Involuntary Motion
by detective-sweetheart
Summary: ...and then she was gone, and he was left to stare after her, wondering what the hell had just happened...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yeah, apparently, my muse has been bitten by the random bug again. Therefore, the beginning of what will probably turn into a TOS AU. In any case, TOS isn't mine, but Anna is. And that is all. **

* * *

The trial ended on a high note. They'd gotten the conviction they were looking for, and now all they had was the sentencing hearing, and it was over. At least, until the next case came over from the two-seven. And then everything would start over again. The thought would've been amusing if it weren't so tiring at the same time. Even so, work wasn't exactly something that Jack wanted to think about, which was why he couldn't for the life of him figure out why he was still in his office. It was the weekend, and Connie had already gone. So had most of everyone else, too…even Branch.

So, when he heard a knock on his office door, it startled him for a brief moment, before he recovered. "It's open."

The door came swinging in, and then there was Anna Flynn, the one person that he'd been hoping he wouldn't see again anytime soon.

"The trial's over, Ms. Flynn," Jack said dryly, "What do you want?"

"Drop the prosecutor act, McCoy, I'm not in the mood," said Anna. Jack bit back the desire to laugh at her. They'd met, years ago, through Claire, who'd been one of Anna's closest friends, and the two of them had hit it off. Unfortunately, however, they both sat on different sides of the courtroom, and whenever they met up, it usually led to some sort of argument. Sometimes, she was almost worse than he was. Now appeared as if it were going to end up being one of those times.

"All right. I'll drop the prosecutor act, but my question still stands. What do you want?" he said finally.

Anna sat in one of the empty chairs in front of his desk, and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know," she admitted. "I was halfway home when something told me to come on over to the District Attorney's Office, so here I am."  
That was certainly something. Suddenly interested, Jack sat forward, looking amused.

"Something just told you to come over here?" he asked, unable to resist giving her a hard time. "Are you hearing voices now, Anna?"

"Bite me, Jack," came the reply. "I don't know what it was. What're you still doing here, anyway?"  
"I have no life," said Jack, with a perfectly straight face. "I decided I was going to organize all my paperwork in alphabetical order…"

Anna laughed. "You really are pathetic," she said. "You aren't serious, are you?"

"Actually, no," said Jack, "But I was starting to think about it before you came in."

She shook her head, and rose to her feet, walking behind the desk and pulling him to his feet "Come on."

"Come on?" Jack repeated, taking his coat as Anna pushed it at him, and then following her out of the office, turning out the lights behind them. "Where are we going?"  
"I don't know, "said Anna, "We could go for dinner, or drinks, hell, we could even go for ice cream for all I care."  
"Or we could go for all three," Jack pointed out. She turned to face him.

"You think"" she asked, and he nodded.

"Might as well, it's not as if either of us have anything better to do at the moment," he said.

"We could always go organize paperwork," Anna replied, smirking. Jack shook his head as they left the building.

"I'm never going to hear the end of that one, am I?" he asked.

"Not at the moment, no," said Anna, reaching into her pocket for her keys. "Where to?"  
"I have a better idea. Why don't you let me drive?"

"Because I happen to be in a skirt, and like hell am I getting on that motorcycle of yours."

"Why? I'm not gonna kill you, Anna. I just have a place in mind, and I don't exactly feel like explaining how to get there."

"So why don't you just drive my car?"

"What are you so afraid of?"  
"Nothing."

"Prove it." Jack turned abruptly and headed towards the building's parking garage. Anna rolled her eyes, but followed.

"Jack, for heaven's sake, I just told you I'm in a skirt; I can't do this. I won't."

"Then you are scared."

"I'm not, either."

"Then get on, or I'll just go by myself."

"Oh, you…" Anna shook her head, but got on, awkwardly, and put on the helmet he handed her. "I can't believe you keep this thing."  
"I'm a closet rebel," said Jack, through his own helmet, "Hold on."

Anna gave an involuntary shriek as they took off suddenly, leaving the garage, and heading into the city. It wasn't too cold out, she mused, trying not to think about how close the two of them were, currently. She could only imagine what would be said if they were seen by any mutual friends. But she didn't want to think about that, either.

Her thoughts, however, took up most of her concentration, and when she finally stopped thinking, they'd come into another parking area. Jack had taken off his helmet and was eyeing her intently.

"Are you all right?" he asked. Anna pulled off her own helmet, and nodded.

"Yeah," she said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Where are we?"

"Somewhere in the Bronx," said Jack vaguely, "Not exactly sure where."  
"Have you ever been here before?" Anna asked, skeptically, getting off the bike and following him inside.

"Yes," he replied, "It's nice to get out of Manhattan sometimes, I think."

"Why do you think I live on Staten Island?" Anna asked dryly. He laughed.

"Same reason I Come out here. To get away. And I'm buying."  
"What? No. You aren't. I'm the one that asked you to come with me…"

"And I'm the one that brought you here, so just let me."

Anna gave an exasperated sigh, but nodded. "Fine," she said, "But I'm buying ice cream."  
"Sounds good."

"It had better, 'cause I don't want to hear one word from you about it."  
"My lips are sealed."

"Good."

Silence, and then both of them laughed. It had been a while since they'd done this, a while, because they were on different sides of things. And because it almost hurt to see each other, and though they'd been friends for years, it had never really seemed right. It was even awkward now, but neither of them wanted to think about it.

So they didn't. And time passed faster that way, and before they knew it, they were back in Manhattan, walking, and eating ice cream at the same time.

"This is the worst time to be doing this, y'know," Anna remarked, "I don't think I've ever eaten ice cream this late before."

"What's the fun in eating it during the day, though, when there's no one to eat with you?" Jack asked mildly.

"Never figured you as being someone who'd want someone else to eat ice cream with."

"There's no real point when you're alone. And besides, I don't see what's so bad about you eating some now; you're walking, aren't you?"

"Jack…why are we having this conversation?"  
"I have no idea. But it beats the hell out of talking shop."  
"Sentencing hearing's on Monday."

"Could've sworn I just said something about talking shop."

"You never said you didn't want to."

"Always looking for a loophole, aren't you? I'll say it now, then: I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine by me." Anna paused in her tracks, causing Jack to nearly trip over her, but he caught himself. She looked up at him, a faint smile crossing her face as she did.

"What?" he asked. "Did I miss a spot shaving this morning or something?" Anna shook her head.

"No, but you've got…" Someone pushed her, suddenly, and she fell forward against him, her mouth landing on his when she looked up, startled, to apologize, just as he was looking down at her.

Well, he thought, not bothering to move away, and nothing that she wasn't, either, this was certainly interesting. Involuntary motion though it had been, it was certainly not something that either of them were objecting to.

At least, not until Anna finally did pull away. Jack looked at her for a moment, and noticed that her face had gone suddenly pale. But before he could say anything, she started backing away.

"Jack, I…I'm sorry…"

And then she was gone, just like that. And he watched her go, until she disappeared from view, left to wonder exactly what the hell had just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I think I finally figured out where I'm going with this. **

* * *

There was a picture that had sat on her desk for years, one that she'd never bothered to move before, until now. And that was only because she was holding it, and staring down at it. The picture was rather old, of her, and of Claire…and of Jack, who'd inadvertently found himself in it, because Anna had been aiming the camera in the general direction of herself and Claire, without realizing that he was behind them. He'd seen the picture later, though, and had insisted on a copy of it. For all Anna knew, he still had it.

But she'd been avoiding him ever since the end of the last trial, and for once it was because she wanted to. He'd tried to call, too, and she knew it, but she'd ignored the messages that her secretary had given her. Whether it was still guilt or not was yet to be figured out. And honestly, Anna wasn't too sure she wanted to.

"You look like you've swallowed a lemon." Anna looked up to find Kaye Henshall standing in her office doorway. She sighed.

"Do I really?" she asked, and then, "There's coffee if you want any."  
Kaye grinned. "Thanks, I could use some. Trevor's about to drive me up the damn wall."  
"Going up against ADA Novak again?"  
"I really wish he'd learn not to piss her off, but then again, I'm not surprised he does."  
Anna laughed, and felt like it was the first time she had in weeks. "Well, it's a living, at least."

"Very true," said Kaye, and then, "How's your case coming?"  
"Well, I'm not dealing with McCoy this time, so I suppose it's all good." She felt guilty for saying this. After all, she still considered Jack to be a friend of hers and here she was, avoiding him. She sighed. "Actually, it's not."  
Kaye took a sip from the coffee mug she'd filled and came to sit down. "What happened?" she asked.

Anna motioned to the picture on her desk. "You remember Claire Kincaid, don't you?" she asked in reply.

"Well, sure, we all went through law school together," said Kaye, "What about her?"  
"She and McCoy were…seeing each other, and then she was in a car wreck, and she died, and Jack and I…"  
"Tell me you didn't sleep with him."  
"What? No! I haven't…" Anna trailed off and sighed. "We're just friends. At least, I think we are. I don't know. It's been an on and off sort of thing ever since Claire died, and I think I might've just screwed it all up."  
Kaye looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing. At least, nothing on my own. We were out walking, and some guy pushed me, and the next thing I know, Jack and I are kissing, and then…" Anna trailed off again and shook her head. "This is why I'm glad I'm up against Carver, if and when this case of mine goes to trial."  
"You can't avoid him forever," Kaye remarked, "Sooner or later, you're going to have to face him."  
"You will have to drag me kicking and screaming…literally."

* * *

"Melnick's looking for a meeting." Connie walked into Jack's office, holding a blue folded form. "She wants to get the confession thrown out."  
"She'll have a hard time of it," said Jack, "No coercion, no police brutality, they read him his rights…"  
"She's claiming emotional distress," said Connie dryly. "You ask me, it's a load of crap."  
"You know defense attorneys, they'll do anything to get their clients off the hook."

"She's also claiming that this one know something that will help us nail the others."

"Is she now?" Jack looked up, finally, from his desk and sighed. "Any idea what it might be?"  
"I suppose that's what the meeting's for," Connie replied. "You feeling all right?"  
"I'm fine," Jack said dryly, "Why?"  
"Just wondering," came the reply. "Should I tell Melnick we'll meet, or no?"

"We'll meet," said Jack, absently, looking back down at the papers on his desk. "But tell her if her client gives us the runaround, it's over."  
"Will do," said Connie. She moved to leave the office and turned back as she reached the door. "You get a hold of Flynn yet?"  
Jack shook his head. "I think she might actually be avoiding me," he said. "Probably something I said."  
"You men will never learn," Connie said mildly. "Keep talking. She's gotta talk to you sooner or later."

"You don't know Anna. The last person she decided not to talk to still hasn't heard from her."  
Connie gave him an amused look and left the office, closing the door behind her. Jack leaned forward in his chair, suddenly not in the mood to work anymore. The last person Anna had decided not to talk to had been Claire. Then again, had Claire still been around, she and Anna certainly would have spoken before now; as Claire had once put it, the two of them could only avoid each other for so long before it got boring.

It was going on eleven years now. As for Anna not talking to him, well, a new trial was already beginning and it had already been at least ten days. Suddenly frustrated, he reached for the phone and dialed the one number that Anna usually answered. It went to voicemail.

_"You've managed to find me. It's a miracle. Since I'm not answering, I'm either in a trial or a meeting, so leave a message and I'll get back to you." _

There was a beeping sound. Jack rolled his eyes. "Your sarcasm will never cease to amaze me, Anna," he said dryly. "Just call me back when you get this. We really need to talk."

* * *

Sitting in her office, Anna eyed her cell phone as it finally stopped ringing, having been determined not to answer it when she saw who it was. A few seconds later, the phone buzzed.

She had a new voicemail.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I know, I know, I left you guys hanging. And I'm trying to work on updating this one as soon as chapters get finished, but it's not working at the moment...but I'll keep trying anyway. **

* * *

Saturday found Anna sitting in her office. It was almost amusing, because ordinarily, she might've found something else to do. Like staying on Staten Island. But Jack knew where she lived, and he didn't like venturing into her side of things, otherwise known as the law offices of Henshall and Langan. So she was here, when she could have been somewhere else. She liked to wander around Manhattan, but had the feeling she'd run into Jack if she did, so she holed up here in her office. Doing paperwork, of all things, and organizing it, in alphabetical order, because she couldn't think of anything else to do. 

It was the same thing she had given Jack hell about however long ago it had been, and now she was doing it herself. She stared down at the manila folders spread across her desk, suddenly frustrated as she ran a hand through her hair. She bit her lip as she felt the tears starting to come. Avoiding him was starting to take a toll on her. She'd deleted the voicemail he'd left, but had answered all the others, the ones not from him. It was one thing to lose a friend because of a falling out, another to lose a friend because of something like this. She didn't want to think about it.

"You're working yourself too hard, Anna," said Kaye's voice, and Anna looked up in time to find the other woman entering her office. She sighed

"I know," she said, "I know. And I know I need to take a break, and I'm going to. I just need to get this done."

"So you are finally taking a break," said Kaye, "It's a miracle. You go through Trevor this time around?" Anna nodded.

"I should've told you earlier; I'm sorry. I just…I needed a break, and I was going to talk to you, but you weren't around, so I talked to him about it instead, and he cleared it all."

"You know, you really should be a partner already, then you wouldn't have to go through either one of us." said Kaye. "He didn't make you wait too long, did he?"

"No, he didn't," said Anna, looking amused. "I think he knew better." Kaye laughed.

"Well, where are you headed?" she asked. Anna leaned back in her chair, smiling faintly.

"Home," she said. "Hope Mills, North Carolina…it's gotta be the most random place for me to go, but it's home."

"North Carolina, huh?" said Kaye. "Sounds interesting." She looked at the paperwork on Anna's desk and sat down. "When do you leave?"  
"Tonight, which is why I was hoping I could get all this done, but I keep thinking about…" Anna trailed off and looked away, her face going slightly red. "I keep thinking about Jack."

"You still haven't talked to old Hang 'Em High, have you?" Kaye asked, and Anna shook her head.

"No," she admitted, "No, I still haven't talked to him, and I know I should, but I just…I can't make myself do it."  
"You're afraid of something?" Kaye asked, and Anna shook her head.

"Heavens, no," she said. "I'm not afraid of him. I've known him for years. I'm just…I really don't want to know what's happened to this so-called friendship we've had for all these years."  
"Anna, the only way you're going to find out whether or not Jack still wants anything to do with you is if you talk to him, and if you don't, then you won't get anywhere."  
"But I don't want to lose him."

The admission had come out of nowhere. Anna's face went even more red than it already had been before, and she stared down at her desk. Kaye looked at her with raised eyebrows, and shook her head, smirking.

"I knew it," she said. "I knew there was something more going on than you just accidentally kissing him…"  
"What? There's nothing!" Anna protested. "I swear there's nothing; we're just friends. It was a total accident…Oh, for the love of…Don't give me that look."

Kaye was still looking at her with raised eyebrows. "You just said that you didn't want to lose him," she said. "What do you think that's supposed to tell me? Anna, the fact that Jack hasn't given up on trying to talk to you means something, or haven't you realized that yet?"  
"It means that he wants to know exactly what I think, and I'm afraid that if I talk to him, all I'm going to do is lie about it because I don't want to deal with this. And I don't want to deal with it. He still keeps Claire's pearls in his desk for heaven's sake!"

Now that was something she hadn't told anyone, not since he'd told her, a few years back, and she felt almost guilty for saying it to Kaye, but she, too, had been friends with Claire, and so it hardly really seemed to matter. Now Kaye shook her head, the amused look leaving her face.

"Anna, it's been almost eleven years now," she said. "Sooner or later he's going to have to get over her; I wouldn't be surprised if he already has gotten over her. Sure, he'll always have feelings for her, because they were together, and that's just the way things go, but you can't tell me that he's going to be stuck on her forever."

"Is this the lawyer talking, or the friend that has way too much experience on the playing field?" Anna asked dryly. Kaye kicked at her foot under the desks.

"Loser," she said, teasingly. "Seriously, Anna, I think you're overreacting about all of this. Avoiding him will get you nowhere. And taking off to Alaska sure as hell isn't going to get you anywhere."

Anna leaned forward in her seat again, and smirked. "But it will get me a place to clear my head, and a place to think."

* * *

"…in cold blood. There is, ladies and gentlemen, only one conclusion you can draw. This murder was pre-meditated, it was carried out, and now, a woman is dead. Find it in yourselves to make sure that justice is served." 

Closing arguments were definitely the worst. It was the one thing he really hated about trials, because they were, to put it shortly, the difference between an acquittal and a conviction. The closing arguments, and the evidence that had been presented. Jack was halfway confident that they'd come out with a conviction, but at the same time, he had learned a long time ago never to think about it until after the decision had come.

After the jury went into deliberations, he left the courtroom, on his own. Connie had decided not to follow him. Well…at least, to wherever it was that he was going. She had followed him out of the courtroom, but other than that, there was nothing. She wasn't behind him, and he didn't feel like looking for her, either.

"If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn you'd swallowed a lemon." Kaye walked up beside him, and sighed. "Oh, for heaven's sake, Jack, don't avoid me now."

He gave her a look. "Don't think you can stand there and lecture me on not avoiding people," he said flatly, "I don't want to hear it, Kaye."

"Why the hell are you mad at me because Anna decided she wanted to take an impromptu vacation home?"

"You told me you'd try and get her to talk to me."

"What the hell do you think I've been doing, Jack? How juvenile is that, to avoid me because Anna doesn't feel like speaking to you?"

Jack glared at her. "I don't see why you're bothering to try and keep the peace here. If Anna doesn't want to talk to me, then fine. I won't talk to her, either. It's obvious she doesn't want any contact."

Kaye sighed. "Jack, it isn't like that. She just needs time to think."  
"About what?" he asked, incredulously. "It was an accident; we both know it was an accident, it didn't mean anything, and it sure as hell hasn't ruined my friendship with her; I could care less."

"It isn't you, Jack. I swear it isn't you."

"And what makes you so sure about that?"

"Anna might not be talking to you, but she doesn't really have a choice but to talk to me; I'm her damn boss, for heaven's sake. She'll be back. You know she'll be back."

But he didn't. They had reached the courthouse doors. Jack pushed one open, and walked out after Kaye, the look on his face somewhere between misery and something that Kaye could not read.

"This is really killing you, isn't it?" she asked quietly, as they continued to walk, down the courthouse stairs. Jack sighed.

"I don't know," he said. "Part of me wants to go out there after her, but the other part wants to just let it go."

"She told me she didn't want to lose you." Kaye closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"Then why did you?"

"Because I'm not only a lawyer, I'm friends with the two of you, and I really don't like seeing you guys like this. That's why. I might be a defense attorney, but I'm not a cold-hearted bitch, Jack."  
"I still think you should've become a prosecutor, you and Anna both. You'd have done well on our side."

"Yes, well, you and Claire did just fine, thanks." Jack looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she sighed. "Sorry. Wrong thing to say. But you know what I meant."  
"That I do." Jack fell silent for a moment and then shook his head, looking at his watch. "I know we're on different sides of things, but d'you feel like going for something to eat with me? I don't particularly want to go on my own."

"That sounds great," said Kaye, "Really, it does. And you know, just because we're on different sides doesn't mean we can't be friends."  
"If it did, then I wouldn't be speaking to you right now." A pause, and then both of them laughed.

"That's lovely, Jack," said Kaye, "Really, it is. And sooner or later, everything's going to work itself out. It always does, doesn't it?"

* * *

"Detective Green, Detective Cassady, Homicide." 

Midday murders were definitely the worst, especially in the summer. It was hot, and the smell was almost unbearable. Nina followed her partner behind the crime scene tape lines, fighting back the desire to hold her nose.

"What've we got?" she asked. One of the uniforms nearby looked up.

"Routine murder," he said, giving her a once-over. She glared back at him, and he went on. "Couple of college kids found him." He motioned to the other side of the lines. Sure enough, there were two college-aged girls standing there, looking quite upset. Ed glanced over at Nina and then spoke.

"Any ID or are we looking at another John Doe?" he asked. They'd already had two other murders since that morning, both of them with no ID. It was one of the most frustrating things that a cop had to deal with.

"ID," said the uniform, without looking Nina in the eye, something that she was glad for, because she was halfway to saying something to him as it was. "Name's Michael Garrett. Apparently, he's some kind of psychologist."

"Garrett…why does that name sound so familiar…?" Nina trailed off and then snapped her fingers. "Got it. The psychologist that got McCoy's last trial ended in an acquittal."

"Great," said Ed dryly, "A revenge murder. Exactly what we need right now." He sounded annoyed, not that Nina could really blame him. Three murders in one day was definitely more than either one of them wanted to handle. Then again, they were Homicide detectives, and were therefore left without much of a choice but to deal with it.

"What makes you think it's a revenge murder?" Nina asked. He glanced over at her.

"Nothing, really. But we can't exactly rule it out, either. Lieu's gonna have a field day with this one…"

Yeah, she was, Nina thought. Especially with two other murders and the Chief of Detectives already on their backs. She crossed the crime scene tape again after Ed, and shook her head.

"This goes any farther, they're gonna end up shoving this on over to the Major Case Squad," she remarked.

"I'm not too sure that's not a good thing at this point," said Ed, "They'd probably be able to get somewhere faster than the two of us on our own."

"Hey," said Nina, "We're Homicide detectives. No one does it like we do. We'll get somewhere. We always do."

They hadn't even really been partners that long, and yet she reminded him somewhat of Lennie, Ed thought, what with her sarcasm and all. There really was no replacing Lennie, though, but Nina was a good enough partner, regardless. He offered up a faint smile as they walked towards the unmarked squad car that they always took out, and reached into his pocket for his keys.

"Second worst part of a cop's job," he said, "Having to tell somebody that their loved one's been murdered."  
"Sometimes I really hate this job," Nina muttered, but got in on the passenger's side, anyway. They left the scene, headed for the home of the late Michael Garrett. They reached it soon after they left the scene, and walked up to the porch. Ed glanced at Nina and sighed.

"You want to do the honors, or should I?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ok. I think I know where I'm going officially with this, so here's to being able to update on a regular basis again. **

* * *

She'd shooed her sister out of the kitchen. It was the one place where she'd found herself on and off during her vacation, even though she'd only really been home for a few days. Now she stood in the middle of the room with no idea what she was going to make. Anna bit her lip as she stood there, debating as to whether or not to turn on the radio and make her sister think she was actually doing something. But before she could, her sibling walked in, and shook her head.

"You're still thinking about that other lawyer, aren't you?" she asked. Anna rolled her eyes.

"I still fail to see why I bothered to tell you anything about that," she replied dryly. "Are you ever going to lay off about it?"

Tallulah Dowling shook her head, smirking. "Not at the moment, no," she said. "What're you making?"

Anna sighed. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I thought I knew, but I guess I really don't. You feel like helping me figure it out?"

Tallulah shook her head again, this time looking almost sympathetic. "Pull out the mixing bowls, we'll make cookies," she said. "Maybe it'll take your mind off your prosecutor."

Anna shook her head this time, but bent down to take the mixing bowls from the cabinet beneath her. "He's not mine," she said, a half-hearted protest since she knew Tallulah wasn't going to listen to her. "I don't even know what he is."

"But you do know that he's a guy and that you want him," said Tallulah, flatly, opening the freezer and pulling out a few bags of chocolate chips. "Is that or is that not so?"

"It's not so," said Anna, feeling contrary for reasons she wasn't too sure about. "We're nothing more than friends."

"And yet you come home out of nowhere, after you 'accidentally' kiss him. What d'you call that?"

"We were eating ice cream in the middle of the night, and someone shoved me into him. Before that, he'd just kicked my ass in court. What does that tell you?"

"That maybe there's more than meets the eye, and you don't want to admit it. Anna, I gotta tell you, ever since you got divorced, you've been awfully cynical."  
Anna rolled her eyes. "We're not going there," she said, bluntly. "We are not, in any way, shape or form, going there. You hear me?"  
Tallulah ignored her. "Grab the flour out of the pantry, will you?" she asked, and then, "Anna, sooner or later, you're going to have to go there. You can't just spend the rest of your life alone. You're 40 years old, for heaven's sake. You have heaven only knows how many years ahead of you."

"One could've said the same of Claire, and then she died in a car accident when we were thirty. What does that tell you?"

"That unfortunate things happen, but they don't happen to everyone."

"Now you're just being an optimist. I could've sworn I told you that Jack was seeing Claire on a personal level when she died. Maybe I just don't want to go anywhere with this because she was a friend of mine."

"She's been six feet under for almost eleven years now. Come off it, Anna, you can't play that card anymore. Maybe at first, but not now."  
"You're awful." Anna pulled the sugar from the pantry, as well, and walked back over to the counter. "I'm supposed to be doing this."

"Yeah, well, you're not, so I'm doing it. Go drink a cup of coffee or something, sit here and talk to me. I don't want to be alone in here."

They were complete opposites, Anna thought, as she did as she'd been directed, and sat at the counter. Tallulah had no qualms about being watched in the kitchen; Anna hated to have anyone looking over her shoulder.

"Y'know I got the same lecture from Kaye before I left," she remarked finally. "She seems to hold the same views you do."

"Yes, well, no one knows you better than your friends and family," said Tallulah dryly. "Anna, I'm telling you, you're gonna have to talk to him when you go back to New York."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you're only going to make things worse for yourself. Not talking is only going to make you wonder, and we both know what you're like when you don't have answers."

* * *

Identifications had come in on the other two victims. Now along with Michael Garrett, they had one Dr. Samantha Glass, and a defense attorney by the name of Vincent Marshall.

"Marshall and Glass were both involved in cases before you came around," said Ed, to Nina as they sat across from each other at their desks. She looked over at him with raised eyebrows.

"Acquittals or convictions?" she asked. He sighed.

"Acquittals, both of 'em," he said. "DA's office tried to appeal the rulings on both cases, but it didn't work."

"And the prosecutors were?" Nina asked, leaning back in her seat. Ed looked down at the files.

"First one was McCoy and Abbie Carmichael, second was McCoy and Serena Southerlyn." he said.

"So, McCoy's pretty much the only link these people have to each other. That's lovely."

"You make it sound like you actually think he could've done this. Do you?"

"I don't know. Forensics got back to me finally, on the results from the Garrett scene. No fingerprints; the blood all belonged to the victim. Whoever's pulling this off knows what they're doing."

Results had already come in from the first two scenes. So far, all three victims had been killed in different ways. An attempt to throw them off, and both of them knew it, which made it even more annoying than it might've been otherwise.

"Assuming McCoy really has nothing to do with this, which is what I'm going to go with until we get something saying otherwise," said Nina finally, "Why, other than the obvious, would someone go after people involved in cases that were acquitted?"

"There isn't really anything other than the obvious," Ed said dryly. "They could've been randomly chosen. It could all be a coincidence."

"Coincidence?" said Nina, once more looking at him with raised eyebrows. "I highly doubt it. Not when all three were related to cases that got acquitted. No way that's random. Someone had to have known."

"Say they were looked up, then," said Ed. "Doesn't necessarily mean that someone else involved with the cases did it. This could be some sort of vigilante."

"Lovely," Nina muttered dryly, "That's exactly what we need right now. Some sort of vigilante turned serial killer."  
"We've still got more notifications to do," Ed remarked, glancing at the clock on the wall behind Nina. "Might as well get it over with now."

He rose to his feet, and so did she, both of them reaching for their jackets before leaving the squad room. Nina shook her head.

"Sometimes I hate this job," she muttered. "I swear there's nothing in the world worse than having to tell someone their loved one's been murdered."

"A necessary evil. No one in the city would know anything if the cops weren't around to tell 'em."

"Talk about pressure. You drive; I'm about ready to fall over." She handed him the keys, which had been sitting on her desk, and they walked out of the precinct and into the cold.

* * *

"She still hasn't talked to you, has she?"

"You know, for one who used to swear up and down you'd never be seen in a prosecutor's office, you're awfully good at going back on your word."

"Bite me, McCoy. Answer the question." Kaye closed the office door behind her and leaned against it, frowning slightly when he didn't. "I knew it. She hasn't. I'm gonna kill her."

"Well, there's a fine thing to admit in front of me," Jack said dryly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to drag you out of here, if you don't mind. You can't just hide in here the rest of your life."

"Says you."

"What're you gonna do? Sit here and alphabetize your paperwork? Come off it. Even I know you're not really going to do that."

He looked over at her with raised eyebrows then, and shook his head. "And you wonder why most of us on this side of the line think defense attorneys are nothing but a pain," he said. "I'm not having this conversation with you, Kaye."

"Of course you're not. Anna wouldn't have it either, and now she's gone. And no, I don't know when she's coming back. I don't even know how long she's on vacation for; Trevor won't tell me anything. He thinks I'm going to try and call her back."

"I wouldn't put it past you."  
There was silence for a long moment, and then Kaye spoke again. "Y'know, she only left to clear her head."

"Of what?" Jack asked, almost incredulously. "It can't possibly be that complicated. What, is she afraid someone saw us or something?"  
"Well, you can't deny you've got a reputation. I don't know if that's what she's afraid of. I haven't really asked, either, but now that I think of it…"

"Leave it alone, Kaye. I don't need to know that. I just want to know why she'd care if that's really what it was. She'd have never cared before."

"True, but before, you had someone else and the two of you were just friends. Have you tried to talk to her at all lately?"

"If her cell phone's on, it goes straight to voicemail. I don't know how else to get hold of her. I'm starting to think it's not worth it. You know how she is."

"Even she can't avoid you forever."  
"The last person she decided not to talk to, she hasn't talked to in almost eleven years."

"Now you're just making excuses. You know damn well the last person she wasn't speaking to was Claire."  
Another silence. "That's it, isn't it?" Jack asked finally, and Kaye, who knew exactly what he meant by this, shrugged.

"I don't know," she said, even though she did, "And even if I did, it wouldn't' be my place to tell you. I don't like this any more than you do, but there's not exactly anything I can do about it. It's up to the both of you."

"Have you talked to her at all, since she left?"

"Yes. And don't give me that look, either. It's hardly my fault she still wants to talk to me."

"Well, according to her way of thinking, you haven't done anything wrong."  
"Neither have you."

"You'd never know it, looking at everything she's done to get the hell away from me."

"It's not you. Well, it is you, but it's not like that."  
"For someone who claims not to know anything, you sure seem to know an awful lot."  
"What can I say? People tell me things. Even you tell me things, and don't act like you don't, either." Kaye trailed off for a moment and sighed. "I meant what I said earlier, Jack. You can't just sit in here and hide."

"I'm not hiding from anything."  
"Of course you're not. You're just sitting in here because you can, and because you have things to get done."  
"Is there a point to this conversation, or did you just come around here to bother me?"  
"I didn't come to bother anyone, but if I'm getting on your nerves, then I'll go," said Kaye. She opened the office door, and stepped out before going on. "I would try to call her within the next hour or so. Odds are she won't pay attention to who's on the caller ID."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here we go again. Another update. **

* * *

"D'you know of any problems she might've been having? Any people she was having issues with?"

The actual investigation, so to speak, had finally begun. Nina and Ed now found themselves standing in front of a nurse's station at a hospital in the Bronx, inquiring after Samantha Glass. The nurse behind the station sighed.

"She had an issue with a lot of the parents, but it was understandable, especially to her," she replied. "Pediatric oncology. Cancer, you know. No one wanted to believe it was happening to them."  
"Any threats?" Nina asked. The nurse shook her head.

"None that I knew of," she said. "Dr. Glass wasn't one who liked to share her personal life. She'd have tried to handle it on her own."  
"Is there anything else you might be able to tell us?" Ed asked. The nurse sighed again.

"That case she testified in a while back," she said. "Dr. Glass never said anything, but you could tell she was upset about that so-called doctor being acquitted. It took her a while to get back to normal."  
"Thanks," said Nina, "We'll let you know if we need anything else."

The nurse turned back to her work and Nina turned to her partner as they walked off.

"That makes one of them," she said. "Garrett and Marshall had no problems with the acquittals they were involved in, but Glass did."  
"The case she was involved in, another doctor got acquitted; same field as she was. Mercy killings, or so he said. Got him off, in any case. Whole city was pissed," said Ed.

"I wonder why," Nina said dryly, "Pediatric oncology; idiot was killing kids. How stupid was that jury?"

"Couldn't tell you," Ed replied. "Wouldn't be surprised if he was our next victim, though."

Nina snorted. "Well, there's a fine thing for a Homicide cop to say."  
"Doctors are supposed to help people, not kill 'em. I'm hardly the only one that wouldn't care."

"Well, let's look at what we've got, then. Three victims, three cases, three acquittals. A defense attorney who was getting threats, a psychiatrist whacked out of nowhere, and a doctor who'd have tried to handle it on her own."  
"There's New York for you, then. CSU didn't find anything that would give us anything to get a face to tie to all this."  
"I get the feeling that whoever's behind this planned it like that until he's ready to give it all up.'

"Or set it all up."  
"We still looking at the McCoy theory?"

"Until something tells us otherwise. Can't rule anyone out."  
"Let's go see what Mr. Marshall's colleagues have to say about him, then."

They did. His office had already been emptied out by his family, but his colleagues were still there. Ironically enough, he had been in the office located next to Anna Flynn's. Kaye watched the two detectives as they looked through what was left, and shook her head.

"Well, he was determined; I'll give him that," she said. "Liked to take on high profile stuff. Cop killings and such."

"The case he took on against McCoy," said Nina, "Was it a cop killing?"

Kaye nodded. "It was. He was pretty cheerful about getting an acquittal on that one. I never got the impression he liked cops much, but there you have it. Jack, on the other hand…"

"We know," said Ed. "Believe me, we know. You know anything about the threats he was getting?"  
"They came from all over," said Kaye, frowning. "I had him give the written ones to me so that I could keep 'em on file. They're in my office."

"Would you mind letting us see them?" Nina asked.

"I'll get them. If you'll wait here…" said Kaye. Both detectives nodded and she walked off.

"What d'you think the odds are that we'll find one from the DA's office?" Nina asked.

"I don't want to know," said Ed. The door opened again, and in walked Kaye with a box.

"They're all here," she said. "I'll leave you to look at them."  
And she did. Nina sat on the edge of the desk and pulled out a bunch of envelopes.

"Might as well get started…" She trailed off and then sat one of the envelopes in front of Ed. "Look what we have here."

* * *

He'd debated on whether or not to take Kaye's advice, had decided to, and had, at the last moment, changed his mind, and hung up. Now, two days later, he wished he hadn't. This latest case was bothering him. And it wasn't only because he was up against Danielle Melnick, either. No…that wasn't it at all.

"Have we found anything that might break the alibi Victors gave us?" he asked, finally breaking the silence that had lingered over the office for most of the time that he and Connie had been in there. She looked up and shook her head.

"Not so far," she said. "Everyone's statements seem to back him up. Someone's got to be lying."

"Unless the evidence was planted as was claimed," Jack said dryly. Connie rolled her eyes.

"I doubt it," she said. "Someone's lying. Look at this." She moved so that he could see what she was looking at and went on. "They don't match. They back Victors up, but they don't match."  
"He was with me at my place, hanging out; he was down at the club with me," Jack read, unable to keep a sarcastic note out of his voice. "Lovely. Now who's lying?"

"They both are," Connie replied simply. "If they'd gotten together, they'd have had the story straight, but they didn't."  
"Which means that they either don't know where he really was, or they were there with him and they're trying to save their own asses."  
"Aren't you an optimist?"  
"I'll be an optimist when this case is over. Right now, I'll settle for matter of fact."

"Of course you will. I'll get Green and Cassady to talk to them again."

"Thanks."  
Connie rose to her feet and moved to leave the office. "Anything else you need while I'm at it?"

"No. Not at the moment, anyway. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

"Well, I'll be back later, then."

And then she was gone. The door closed behind her, and there was silence. Jack almost wished that she'd stayed, but at the same time, he was almost thankful for the silence. He wondered if he'd completely blown any chance of talking to Anna at all by not taking Kaye's advice. He decided he hadn't. Looking down a the remaining stuff spread out over his desk, he sighed. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

She'd been staring at her phone for the past two days. He'd called. She knew it because she'd been holding her cell phone when he had. It had rung twice before she realized it, and then stopped. And she knew he'd hung up because she had it set so that it rang four times before going to voicemail. It had upset her more than she'd thought it would.

"Staring isn't gonna make it ring, hon," Tallulah remarked. "You sure you don't want to come?"  
Anna nodded, but didn't look away from her phone. Tallulah sighed and sat down across from her.

"You meant to talk to him this time, didn't you?" she asked quietly. Anna nodded again, wordlessly. Silence reigned between the two siblings for a long moment before she spoke  
"I didn't think it would upset me like this," she admitted. 'Before, I didn't care, but now…"  
"Now that you've been avoiding him for a while, you mean? Anna…" Tallulah trailed off and shook her head. "I hate to say I told you so, but…"

Anna rolled her eyes. "I get it," she said. "This is what happens when I play hard to get a hold of."  
"Well, yes, and no. You can't tell me that you didn't think he'd give up on you sooner or later."  
"I didn't think it would be this soon. You don't know him like I do; he's more stubborn than I am."

"That's definitely saying something."

"You're not helping."  
"Well, I'm not trying to help. I'm trying to talk some sense into you, but apparently, that's not going to work."  
"I just want him to call again. I swear on everything here that I'll actually answer this time, if the damn phone will just ring…"

"It goes both ways, squirt. Either he calls you, or you call him. I'm sure you have his phone numbers."  
"Do you have any idea how awkward that sounds?"  
"Oh, get over it."

"Mom! Dad wants to know if you're coming, and if you are, he says hurry up already!"

Tallulah made a face. "My child calls," she said, rising to her feet. "We'll be back in a few hours."

Anna nodded, without saying anything, and turned back to her phone. Tallulah disappeared from view, and the garage door slammed behind her. Anna continued to stare at the phone, for a long moment, before finally reaching for it.

Flipping it open, she hit what had become the first number on her speed dial.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Finally, an update and a conversation. Sorry for stringing you guys along for so long. Chapter Seven will be up sometime soon.**

* * *

The phone ringing startled him out of his thoughts. Connie still hadn't returned, not that he really blamed her. He doubted he'd have even noticed if the phone hadn't gone off. Glancing towards everything still on his desk, he took one file with one hand, and answered the phone with the other.

"Hello?" Silence. It didn't appear as if there was anyone on the other side of the line. After a moment, Jack moved to hang up, annoyed, and then a voice came.

"Jack, wait. I'm still here."

He dropped the file. Papers came out and flew everywhere as he sat forward. "Anna?" he asked, tentatively. She nodded, and then remembered that he could not see her.

"Yeah," she said, quietly, "Yeah, it's me…d'you…do you have a minute?"

"Yes," said Jack, at once, "I have a minute. How've you been?"  
"Fine," Anna replied, somewhat uncertainly, "And you?"

"Could be better. Melnick's giving us all a run for our money," Jack replied. Anna laughed.

"There's Danielle for you," she said. "What else is going on up there?"

"You assume we have lives outside the courtroom," said Jack, mock-seriously. There was another silence. This was the sort of small talk they'd conversed in before. He wondered if they'd ever really be comfortable talking to each other again, and hoped they would be.

"That I do," said Anna's voice, breaking into his thoughts. "What's going on down there?"  
"Nothing," said Jack. "Really. It's just life as usual."  
Except for the fact that I've been running myself into the ground trying to figure out what I've done wrong, he thought, oddly amused. Anna said nothing, and after a moment, he spoke.

"Why'd you run?" The words escaped him before he could really think about them, but rather than stopping, he went on. "For that matter, why'd you apologize?"  
Dead silence. He wondered after a while whether or not Anna had hung up, but then realized he could still hear her breathing, and decided to wait. After another while, she spoke.

"I don't know," she said. "I just…I don't know."

Well. That made two of them. He didn't know what he'd done wrong, and she didn't know why she'd run away. Talking hadn't made anything easier, he thought, it'd only made things more complicated.

"How much longer are you planning on staying away?" he asked finally. "Or are you coming back at all?"  
"I am coming back," said Anna. "Everything I have is in New York; this place…well, I grew up here, but it's really too small a town for me. Guess I've just gotten used to living in the big city."

"Can I ask you something?"  
"You just did." Anna bit her lip as the last word left her, and wished she could take it back, but knew she couldn't. On the other side of the line, Jack laughed.

"Well, at least you haven't changed yet," he said, and then, "Did you leave because of me?"  
"Um…" said Anna, and sat for a moment, trying to think of something, anything that she could tell him without making it sound rude. "Not exactly…"  
"So it was me, but I'm not the only reason why you took a vacation." Jack paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Will you at least tell me what I did?"

"You didn't do anything," said Anna, "It was me. I should've just left well enough alone, but I didn't, and now…" She cut herself off, sounding helpless. "We're still friends, aren't we?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" Jack asked in reply, startled by this question. The papers were still on the floor. He bent down to retrieve them, and hoped he'd be able to put them all back in order, not that he could really remember what order they'd been in, in the first place.

"I don't know. I just…this is really awkward…" Anna trailed off again, and gave an exasperated sigh. "You still want to know why I apologized to you?"

"As a matter of fact," said Jack, and she sighed again.

"Because it shouldn't have happened. Yes, I enjoyed going out with you that night, as friends, but the whole kiss thing…just…I don't know."

"So you regret it."

"What? No! I mean…yes…damn it, Jack, now look what you've done."

"This is why I'm a prosecutor. I know how to get people to tell me the truth."

"And I suppose my being a defense attorney only means that I know how to get them to lie."

"Not at all. They lie to you of their own volition; it's no fault of your own."

"That makes me feel so much better."  
And they were back to sarcasm. Anna found it more than just a little bit strange how this could happen. First they weren't talking, and then they were, and then it was complicated, and now suddenly it wasn't…She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, yet again.

"We shouldn't be having this conversation over the phone," she said. "I know you're in your office."

"Well, when exactly d'you propose we have it, then? We can't put it off forever."  
"You'd be surprised."  
"Anna, please…don't start avoiding me again."  
She looked at her cell phone with raised eyebrows, then, and wondered if she were reading more into that strange note she'd heard in his voice than she was supposed to have. She decided to ignore it.

"I won't," she said, and wondered if she'd keep this so-called promise. "I'm coming back to New York in a few days. Do you want to talk, then?"  
"If you wouldn't mind."  
"Well, I'll see you then."

And with that, she hung up. Putting the cell phone back down on the table, she wondered exactly what she was getting into.

She also wondered if it was really going to be worth it.

* * *

"The note from the District Attorney's office only proves one thing." Ed gave his partner a look over the desk lamp she had, and went on. "All it does is someone knows the address. Not necessarily that it came from a certain office. Damn thing didn't even have a name on it."

"I wonder why," Nina said sarcastically, "Come on, Ed, you've got to be kidding me. You really think he'd put a name on it?"

"You really think it's him?"

"I'm just going with what you said earlier, and you're the very one who said ruling anything out wasn't a possibility until CSU got back to us. They haven't."

"And you're jumping to conclusions. We haven't even talked to the guy; he's been so damn backed up in court lately that we haven't had a chance."

"Well, then we make him take a minute to talk to us. Two minutes, at the most. All he has to do is give us an alibi that we can back up, and then it's over. He's no longer a suspect."

"We have three dead bodies and no evidence. I say we go look at their family and friends again, see if there's something we missed. There's got to be something."

"I think you're putting too much faith in some prosecutor who could easily be some serial killer without any of us knowing, because everyone's convinced that he's too damn good to do anything of the sort."

"I still think you're jumping to conclusions. There's got to be something we've missed."

"Are you just saying that because you're not looking to have it be someone on our side of the law, or because you really think there's something we missed."

"I know you haven't known McCoy as long as I have, Nina, but come on. D'you really think the guy would go out there and just kill people in cold blood?"

"You said it yourself, even the most experienced people can snap. Maybe that's what happened here."

Silence. The two partners were still glaring at each other. Very little had come back from any of the three scenes where their victims had been found, and it was starting to grate on their nerves. The phone rang, suddenly, and Nina reached for the one on her desk.

"Cassady, Homicide," she said, flatly, a bit more rude than she'd really wanted, but it was too late to go back. There was another moment's silence, and then she hung up, frowning.

"What?" Ed asked, warily, not altogether sure he wanted to know the answer. Nina leaned back in her chair, and shook her head.

"That was an anonymous tip," she said. "If we can even call it a tip. Says the next victim will probably drop within the week."

"How would this person know unless they're the murderer?" Ed asked, skeptically. Nina shrugged.

"Could be they've overheard conversation, they live with the guy, work with him…hell, for all we know, this could be a woman."

"Good point." Ed trailed off for a moment, and then looked over at his partner again. "Did it sound like anyone we might know through work?"

Nina shook her head. "No one," she said. "At least, not anyone that I can think of."

"Well, we've got at least a day or two to find out who our next victim is," said Ed. "Let's get moving."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: It's short, I know, but I'm working on it. Figured I'd give you guys an update while I could. Sorry it's been so long since the last chapter. **

* * *

Anna came back to the city. She sat in her office, going through everything she'd missed while she was gone, checking messages, and the like, and then she heard the office door opening.

"You know you can't put him off anymore," said Kaye, closing the door behind her. "He says you two talked."

"We did," said Anna, "He told you?"

"We've been talking," said Kaye, and then, "There's a bit of a nasty rumor going around the District Attorney's office."

"About us?" Anna asked, and felt her heart drop to her stomach. Kaye shook her head.

"No," she said. "About this latest case the two-seven's picked up. All the victims have been involved in cases that ended up in acquittal."

"That's not really that rare," Anna remarked, almost dismissively, though the sinking feeling remained. Kaye shook her head again.

"Different prosecutors might have made this seem like someone just randomly picking people, but the same guy prosecuted all the cases in which the victims were involved."

Anna looked at her with raised eyebrows. "It was Jack, wasn't it?" she asked, and when Kaye nodded, she shook her head.

"No," she said. "I don't give a damn what people in the DA's office are saying, he wouldn't."

"Well, the police haven't dropped him as a suspect yet," Kaye pointed out. "For all you know…"

"Don't you dare go there with me," Anna said flatly, "I don't want to hear it. Until the police prove it was him, it wasn't. Innocent until proven guilty, remember?"

"This isn't going to scare you off talking to him, now, is it?" Kaye asked, but Anna shook her head again.

"No," she said, "No, it won't. I promised I'd talk to him when I came back to the city, and I mean to do so. We're supposed to meet up sometime today."

"Don't say I didn't warn you, then," said Kaye. "I don't want to believe this any more than you do, but all we can really do is watch."

"I wasn't aware that you cared so much," Anna remarked, slowly, and Kaye rolled her eyes.

"I have a ring on my finger, remember?" she said dryly. "Sure, I love the guy, but he's like an annoying older brother, y'know? We talked while you were gone. I know off-limits when I see it."

Anna gave her a look. "We haven't even talked yet; he's not off-limits. Well, to you, maybe, because you're married, but…oh, hell, Kaye, why are we having this conversation?"

"Thought you ought to know what's going around with the prosecutors," said Kaye. "For the record, I don't really think he did it, but you never know. It could all end up coming down to the wire."

* * *

Another lead had come. Now Ed and Nina stood on the doorstep of the one they'd figured out was their victim, because the lead had been more than just a little bit obvious.

"What do you want?" Natalie Grant peered out from behind her door, eyeing the two cops suspiciously.

"We need to talk to you," said Nina, showing the other woman her shield. "About a case you were involved in about six years ago."

"I don't want to talk about it," Natalie insisted. "It's over; the bastard got acquitted. What could you possibly want with me now?"

"We have reason to believe that you're being targeted by someone who's going after people involved in cases where the defendant was acquitted," said Ed. "It'd help if you'd talk to us."

Natalie gave a resigned sigh and moved to allow the two detectives into her house. "I don't know anything," she said, almost nervously. "I really don't. What I do know I've seen in the newspapers."

"But you do know something," said Nina. "Has anyone contacted you in any way about this? Made any threats?"

Natalie looked away. "Phone calls," she said. "They've been coming on and off ever since this began, but every time I try to find out who was calling, I find out the number's blocked. Either that, or a payphone. I can hear the city in the background sometimes."

"Do you recognize the voice at all?" Ed asked. "Someone you know, someone you've heard before?"

Natalie shook her head. "No," she said. "He sounds almost robotic. Like he's using one of those voice-changer devices, but I can't tell for sure."

"Have you noticed anyone or anything strange in or around your house or in the neighborhood?" asked Nina. Natalie shook her head again.

"Nothing," she said. "Everything's pretty much the same. Other than these phone calls, but no one's been following me, no one's been watching me…"

As far as you know, Ed thought, but decided not to say it out loud. Instead he glanced at Nina, and when she nodded, he spoke.

"We'll keep in touch, then," he said, and left his card on Natalie's counter. "If you can think of anything, or if you see or hear anything, let us know."

Natalie nodded, but both detectives doubted it would really happen. Even so, they had nothing more to do there, so they left.

"Heard Anna Flynn was finally back in town," Nina remarked, and Ed gave her a startled look.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"She's got a few defendants acquitted when she was up against McCoy. Natalie might just be one of those red herrings that's only there to throw us off."

"What makes you think that?" Ed asked, giving her a skeptical look, and Nina went on.

"She seemed nervous. Too nervous. Maybe she has something to do with it, and our doer's just trying to take the heat off himself?"

"He's doing that by making it out to be McCoy that's the murderer," said Ed. "And we're not going there, so don't start."

* * *

He was distracted, and that was an understatement. Another case had come, and they were waiting for the grand jury's decision as to whether to indict or not.

"They have no reason not to indict," Connie remarked, "With all the evidence we gave them…if they don't, they're either reading too far behind the lines, or they just don't like us."

Jack offered up a faint, half-hearted smile at this one, and shook his head. "With the rumors going around lately, I wouldn't be surprised. I wish Green and Cassady would come and talk to me already."

"I get the feeling that the fact that they haven't is a sign that they believe you aren't behind this," said Connie, "I really doubt they think you'd actually go out and just commit murder like this."

"I wouldn't," said Jack, "But the fact remains that I can say that now, and have it happen a few years down the road, or even a few minutes down the road."

"You aren't helping yourself here," said Connie. "Making comments like that isn't going to get you anywhere."

"I'm not going to get anywhere, anyway; Branch has already dragged me into his office to ask if I know anything about all this," Jack said dryly. "All I could tell him was that the police were working on it and I hadn't been let in on anything. I don't think it settled well with him."

"Nothing's settling well with him right now; he ought to retire," said Connie, "And don't tell him I said that, either."

Jack smirked. "I wouldn't dream of it," he said. "I doubt you're the only one who holds those sentiments."

"I swear District Attorneys stay longer every time a new one's voted in. Like the city's afraid of change or something."

"Maybe they just like the way he runs things."

"Well, I don't have anything against the man, honestly, but you'd think he'd want more time to spend with his wife, he's more than old enough to retire."

"Maybe he doesn't like his wife."

But the thought seemed so ridiculous, to both of them, that they had to laugh. After a moment, Connie shook her head.

"Not everyone's like you, Jack," she said, but before he could retort, someone came out of the grand jury room, and they rose to their feet. Jack took the paper that was being held out, read it quickly, and sighed.

"Looks like we're going to trial," he said.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And I finally have time to update on a regular basis, so...here goes nothing. **

* * *

They met up at a coffee shop in between the District Attorney's Office and the building she worked out of. It was one of those random hole-in-the-wall places; both of them had been there before, though, and had decided that it was a neutral enough place. So they met.

"No paperwork to organize?" Anna asked, as she walked in, and Jack looked up, from the file he'd been going over.

"Other than this, no," he said, getting to his feet and remaining there until she sat. "How've you been?"

This was going to be awkward. Suddenly she wondered if agreeing to meet up with him had really been such a good idea.

"I've been…well, things could always be better, couldn't they?" she asked, dryly, in an attempt to lighten this strange mood they were in. "And you?"

Jack shrugged. "Same as always, though I suppose you're right that things could be better," he said. "Suppose you've already been let in on everything?"

"Kaye told me," Anna replied. "Apparently, the rumors aren't only going around the DA's office."

Jack sighed. "Figures," he said. "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to get up and leave right now, y'know."

Anna shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere," she said. "I told you that we were going to talk, and we're going to."

"Assuming there's still something to talk about."

"You wanted to know why I ran, didn't you?"

And then there was silence. This was definitely awkward. It was a question he wanted an answer to, and one she didn't want to answer, and both of them were definitely going to have to reach some point of agreement, or whatever, or this wasn't going to work.

"Yeah," he said, finally. "I do." And before he could stop himself, he went on. "Am I really that awful to be around?"

"What?" Anna gave him a startled look, and shook her head. "No! No, it's not…it wasn't…well, it was, but…oh, hell, Jack, you're not awful to be around. I just…"

She trailed off, unsure of where she was going to go with this; he gave her an amused look.

"Suppose you were worried that someone would see us, then?" he asked, and her face went red as she looked away.

"I'd rather not go there," she said. "People talk ,you know that. Why else d'you think these latest rumors are going around?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Rumors are just that," he said. "Rumors. Until someone confirms or denies them, but the only person who can do that is the person who's involved."

"Unless it involves a murder, because then only an investigation can confirm or deny it," Anna pointed out. "Can't you just take my word for it that it wasn't you?"

"No, because I think it was, and I might point out that I wasn't the only one involved, as I'm sure you're aware of," came the reply. "Anna, if I did something to upset you, I'd like to know about it."

"You didn't do anything," said Anna, "It was me, all right? It was just…it was me."

More silence. Jack gave her a startled look. "You?" he asked. "I don't…I'm probably going to get hell for this later, but, Anna, I don't get it. How was it you?"

"Because I'm an idiot," Anna replied dryly. "I won't say I regret it, because I don't, but at the same time…I just…I don't know."

It was rare for her to be at a loss for words, and both of them knew it, so silence came again. Anna picked up the coffee mug in front of her and sipped from it, slowly, watching the people walk by through the window they were sitting in front of.

"Actually, I do," she said, finally, quietly enough that he had to lean forward to hear her. "I don't…want to ruin anything. And I…feel almost guilty because I was friends with Claire, but she's been gone for so long that I'm starting to lose track, and it's just…weird."

Well. That was definitely something. Leaning back, he looked at her for a long moment, and then shook his head.

"Guilty, huh?" he asked, and she gave him a look.

"It's not funny," she insisted. "You think I like this? Why do you think I took off?"

"I never said it was funny," Jack replied, slowly, and then, "It's been almost eleven years, Anna."

"I know that," Anna retorted, annoyed with herself and hating it. "And I know I shouldn't have just taken off, but…oh, for heaven's sake, quit smirking at me!"

"You have got to be one of the most complicated people I've ever met," Jack replied, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I'll take that as a compliment, coming from you," she said dryly, and then, "What exactly d'you think we're going to do about this?"

"I don't know," came the reply, "You tell me."

* * *

They showed up in the office late that night. CSU techs were everywhere, and there was crime scene tape and a medical examiner.

"What happened here?" Nina asked, though she didn't really have to. It was already pretty obvious.

"Blunt force trauma," said the medical examiner, "Someone beat the hell out of her. There was no one else here, otherwise someone might've heard her."

"There any cameras in this place?" Ed asked, and one of the uniforms standing nearby nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "In all the hallways, near all the entrances, but not in the offices."

"Great. So even if we do see this guy on camera, we're probably not going to see his face." said Nina. "He'll probably have been smart enough to wear sunglasses and a hat or something."

"You're still assuming we're dealing with a man. Last time I looked, women were just as capable of this kind of rage," said Ed.

There was no need for them to ask for an ID. Both detectives already knew who she was, though her face was nearly unrecognizable. The fourth victim in their case was none other than another defense attorney by the name of Kaye Henshall.

"We're definitely gonna need to look at the cameras…not just anyone would've had access…" Nina walked over to where the medical examiner was and shook her head. "That clue that led us to Natalie Grant threw us off."

"You think?" Ed asked dryly. "We're gonna have to interview everyone who worked with her…get to her case files…we're gonna need a court order to do that…"  
"Gives us an excuse to talk to McCoy." Nina pulled on a pair of gloves and picked up a tissue near the trash can. There was blood all over it. She stuck it in a plastic evidence bad and handed it to one of the CSU techs.

"We're definitely going to have to ask him for an alibi now," Ed remarked, reluctantly. "Ms. Henshall just got his last case thrown out. Something Roberts screwed up on."

"Nice," Nina said, sarcastically. "This is just what we need right now. Didn't he say he was meeting Anna Flynn sometime today?"

"That was during lunch; why d'you think he was trying to get us to leave his office?" Ed replied, and turned to one of the uniforms. "No security guards or anything?"

"They must've gone on their break," the uniform replied, "We didn't see anyone when we got here. No one at the front entrance, or the back."  
"Are they there, now?" Nina asked, and the uniform nodded.

"They came back when my partner and I went back to see if anyone had come in or out again."

"So, if no one was here, then how'd you know to show up here, in this particular office?" asked Ed.

"Dispatch. We were the closest ones to the scene. Someone called in and reported it."

Ed and Nina exchanged glances. That definitely sounded familiar.

"Anything in particular that might've been mentioned about the caller?" Nina asked, slowly. "Anything about his voice, noises in the background?"

The uniform shook his head. "Nothing like that. We were given an address, we came, no one was around, so we looked around and found her."

The two detectives looked at each other again, and then towards the medical examiner, who was already packing up to go and taking the body along with her.

"I'll be able to tell you more once I get the autopsy done. Probably by tomorrow afternoon, if I can manage it," she said. Both detectives nodded, and then the medical examiner was gone. CSU remained, as did the uniform, whose partner had reappeared.

"You two, stay here," said Nina, "My partner and I will go to interview the security guards and get the videos and such."

And they did. Ed glanced at Nina as they headed down to the main floor, and sighed.

"What do you think is going to turn up?" he asked. She shrugged, looking slightly worried.

"I don't know," she said. "I don't think I want to know, either. It's possible to plant fingerprints, blood…this person's already got people thinking it could be McCoy…"

"But you're keeping your fingers crossed that it isn't."

"Of course I am. The guy might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but even I wouldn't wish something like this on him."

"Let's hope whoever did wish this on him slips up."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: And everything goes down to the wire...**

* * *

She was in shock, and that was putting it lightly. She'd been tempted to call in sick that day, once she'd heard the news, but she couldn't. And now, she stood in front of Kaye's office, staring at the crime scene tape that blocked off the door, so no one could go in.

"What happens now?" she asked, turning to face Trevor, who'd somehow appeared behind her. "She was the second partner…it'll take a while to find someone to replace her, not that we really can replace her, but we still have to…"

He cut her off, gently. "You're rambling, Anna," he said, quietly, "I know." He trailed off for a long moment and then went on. "She'd want you to do it."

Anna shook her head. "No," she said. "No, I couldn't. I just…She…we used to joke about it, but I didn't ever think anything like this would happen…" She cut herself off, upset, and reached up to wipe at her eyes. "Look at me, I'm a mess."

"The police will find out who did this to her," said Trevor, "You know they will. It's only a matter of time."

Anna nodded, but barely heard him. She was too focused on the office, too focused on thinking about the person who should've been sitting in there, the person who she'd confided in throughout this entire mess that she found herself in.

"I've got a case," she said, remembering suddenly, as she turned to head to her office, "I…ah…well, I'll keep you posted if you want to know, but I'm not sure it's going to go as well as I thought it was…"

She was rambling again. Falling silent, she walked into her office, still feeling numb, and closed the door behind her.

When she was sitting at her desk again, she leaned forward on her elbows and buried her face in her hands.

* * *

They'd interviewed most of the people that worked for the law firm by the time evening came. None of them had much to say on the negative side of Kaye, it appeared as if everyone had truly cared about her.

"We've only got one person left," said Nina, looking at the list. "Anna Flynn. Otherwise known as Kaye Henshall's best friend in this place."

"She's not in her office," said Ed. "Langan said she left a while ago. Hasn't heard from her since."

"I'm not surprised; I wouldn't want to be here, either," said Nina. "We still have a list of people we need to talk to as suspects, though."

"Old cases," said Ed, shaking his head. "Lot of people outside this place had a problem with her."

"She was one of the best defense attorneys in the city. Of course a lot of people had problems with her. Cops, prosecutors, families of victims…" Nina trailed off and sighed. "This is going to take a while. We have two defense attorneys dead, a psychologist, and a doctor. Talk about high profile."

"You'd think they'd have pulled Major Case by now," Ed said dryly. Nina rolled her eyes.

"It keeps going like this, they might," she remarked. "We're looking at a serial killer here. Four victims, little if any evidence…"

"Maybe this will be the lucky break we needed. You can't tell me this person's gonna go forever without slipping up."

"We still haven't talked to McCoy, by the way. We should probably head to the District Attorney's Office and try to catch him before he leaves."

"CSU's been backed up. They're supposed to get back to us on that last murder, and hopefully they'll be able to get back to us on this one pretty soon." Ed reached into his pocket for the keys, and sighed. "DA's office, then?"

Nina nodded. "The sooner we clear him for this, the better," she said. "I'd hate to see what the brass would have to say about us going after a prosecutor."

"I'd hate to see what DA Branch would have to say," Ed replied dryly, as they exited the building. "That's one place I'd rather not go."

They got into the car and drove off, completely unaware that they'd been being watched the entire time.

* * *

The District Attorney's office was quiet, for the most part, because it was that time of the day when everyone was going home, and no one was there.

"Heard Anna Flynn is taking over all of Kaye Henshall's case files from here on out," Connie remarked, as she entered Jack's office. He looked up at her and sighed.

"Yeah, I heard that, too," he said. "This shouldn't have happened to her. You'd have thought…"

"Police are saying this guy doesn't really care what job his victims are doing, so long as they're someone involved in a case that was acquitted," said Connie. "Which reminds me, this case we're handling now…"

"Isn't going so well. I know. I've already had a chat with Branch about it. Ms. Melnick's already filed a motion to exclude the confession."

"Detective Roberts and Detective Taylor have anything to say about that?" Connie asked.

"They're insisting they didn't do anything wrong, and I don't know what to tell them. I don't even know what argument Danielle's got this time."

"Probably another coercion thing. Knew I should've headed down there when they called over here."

"You didn't?"

"I was trying to find that other file you'd asked me for, but it wasn't anywhere to be found. I'd have thought Lieutenant Van Buren would supervise them."

"She probably did. I'll have to head over to the two-seven and see about that…" Jack looked at the clock on his desk and sighed. "You should head home; you look exhausted."

"Nothing a cup of coffee won't fix," said Connie dryly, but he shook his head.

"Just go," he said. "I'll probably only be a little while longer." She gave him a skeptical look, but nodded and turned to leave.

"I'll see you in the morning, then."

And then she was gone. The silence was almost comforting, and Jack looked down at the files he still had to go through, debating on whether or not to leave them. The office door opened again and he looked up.

"Detectives," he said, slightly warily, "What can I do for you?"

Ed and Nina walked into the office and closed the door behind them.

"We need to ask you a few questions," said Nina, and Jack stared at her.

"About what?"

* * *

They took him to the two-seven, because by that time, CSU had gotten to the last murder they'd been called in on and Lieutenant Van Buren had called them back. So they'd brought Jack along with them.

"The evidence points to him," said Anita, looking into the interview room where they'd left him. "The letter from the first attorney's murder, fingerprints from the first two murders…"

"So they finally ran them through the system?" Nina asked dryly. "I'm half-tempted to ask what the hell they're doing over there."

"This city's got more murders than I can count in a single day," said Ed, "Why d'you think there are so many homicide units?"  
Nina sighed. "So, we question him, then. See if he has an alibi. There's got to be something there that'll get him out of this."

"Tread lightly," Anita told them, "I don't want this coming back to blow up in our faces."

And with that, the two detectives walked into the interview room. Jack eyed them for a long moment and finally, Nina spoke.

"These murders," she said, and set the files she was holding in front of him. "Evidence in three of them points to you."

"I had nothing to do with this," Jack insisted, "This is ridiculous; why on Earth would I want to…"

"Because these cases they were involved in all ended in acquittals, putting criminals back on the streets, which is exactly what the three of us don't want," Ed replied. "Neither of us want to think you did this, but what can we do? The evidence says what it does."

"So, according to you, I'm responsible for killing three people I didn't even really know, not to mention someone I did know, and was actually rather close to," Jack said dryly. "Lovely. What theory are you going to come up with next?"

Neither detective could really blame him for the sarcasm, though it was getting annoying. Nina gave an exasperated sigh and started to pace the interview room.

"All we need is an alibi," she said. "Someone who saw you, something you did, someone who might remember you from someplace on any one of these nights…"

"I know what an alibi is," Jack said flatly. "Let me see the files, so I can get the dates and tell you, since it's obvious you want to know."

They gave him the files. He looked at the first one and sighed. "Medical examiner says this one died at least twelve hours before she was found, at six in the morning," he said. "I was still in the office. ADA Rubirosa was with me; you can ask her."

"One down, three to go," said Nina, dryly, and Ed gave her a look. It was definitely going to be one of the longer nights.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know this is really short, but I'm still working on it...hopefully there'll be another chapter within the next few days. **

* * *

A few days later, everything got shot to hell. The District Attorney's office was the first to hear it, which led to Connie storming into Branch's office, demanding to know exactly what was going on.

"This is ridiculous," she said, furiously. "Just because he was home alone the night the last two victims were murdered…it doesn't mean anything!"  
"The evidence the police found tells them what it tells them," Branch replied calmly, "There's nothing we can do about it."

"I suppose you expect me to sit and prosecute him, then," Connie said sarcastically. "You know I'm too close to this."

"Which is why you're going to be sitting second chair. You're not running the trial, as much as some think you ought to. I've asked ADA Holloway to handle it."

"But you're not taking me off of it, completely," said Connie, slowly, a sense of relief settling over her, even though she still didn't like it."

"I know Holloway doesn't always get along with Jack, but I'm trusting him to keep an objective view during this case, and I'm counting on you to rein him in if it gets out of hand."

"You're damn straight I will, of all the ridiculous…." Connie trailed off, frustrated, and sighed. "What evidence do they have?"

"Fingerprints, blood, notes, that sort of thing," said Branch, "I don't know much about police work and forensics. I couldn't tell you much more than that."

"Is he defending himself?"

"I haven't spoken to him, Connie, I don't know."

She took the silence to mean that the conversation was over. Turning on her heel, she left the office, not caring that the door slammed behind her as she left.

* * *

One thing after another, Anna thought, almost bitterly, and handed her ID to a guard at the prison, feeling more than slightly annoyed by all of this. She was guided into an interview room, where she sat, and waited.

"Who told you?" Jack's voice startled her, and she looked up at him, and sighed, motioning for him to sit.

"It's all over the DA's office, and presumably, all over the legal community," she said quietly. "Jack, I'm sorry, but this doesn't look good for you."

"Don't tell me you only came around here to tell me that," he said. "I know that. I also know that I didn't do it."

"The Rikers Island theme song," Anna said dryly. He gave her a look.

"I don't know how any of it ended up where it did. But you know…you _know_ I wouldn't do this."

"Why do you think I'm here?"

Words that were probably going to come back and blow up in her face later on, and she knew it, but at the moment, she didn't care. No one else had bothered, and so she would.

"Isn't this a conflict of interest?" Jack asked, eyeing her warily. "You and I have been friends for heaven only knows how long…"

"But as far as the rest of the world is considered, I'd love nothing more than to see you dead because of what you allegedly did to Kaye."

"I didn't do anything to her."

"I know you didn't." Anna trailed off and sighed, running a frustrated hand over her face. "This isn't easy for either one of us, I know, but you could at least pretend to work with me."

"Why the hell should I act like I've done something wrong, when I know damn well I haven't?" Jack trailed off, sounding upset. "This is all over, isn't it?"

Anna nodded. "I'm afraid it is."

"Great. This is exactly what I need right now; I'll never be able to…there's already been talk about having me disbarred."

"They can't disbar you until you've been convicted. Plenty of lawyers have been brought up on charges, and only the ones that are convicted lose everything. You could technically defend yourself."

"So why did you come, if you know that?"

"Because I'm not going to leave you hanging. And if Kaye were still here, she wouldn't have left you hanging, either."

There was silence for a long moment before he looked at her, and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm being a jerk. I just…you know, they've stuck me in protective custody, because I put so many of these people in here…."

"I know," said Anna, "I was informed of this. They actually searched me to make sure I wasn't carrying anything I could use to kill you."

Jack laughed, unable to help it. "You're not one that I can see as being capable of murder," he said.

"It goes both ways," said Anna, and without thinking, reached for his hand. "Don't worry about it, all right? We'll get you out of this."

* * *

The precinct seemed to be under siege. There were reporters all over the outside, and Ed and Nina could hardly get into the squad room when they came back off of their lunch hour.

"This is ridiculous," said Nina, "All those bastards care about is ratings; they don't really want to know what's going on."

"Some of them might want to," said Ed, dryly. "The city's going to want to know what goes on when someone who's supposed to be working for them freaks out."

"We don't even know if he was being set up or not," said Nina. "Something's not right about this."

"Of course something's not right about this, but as far as we're concerned the case is closed. We have other things to do."

"For someone who was so convinced that McCoy couldn't have done it, you're in an awful hurry to move on. He hasn't even been indicted yet."

"The evidence isn't that compelling, if you think about it. Fingerprints, blood…it can all be planted, you said it yourself. Unless something comes up, it's likely that the grand jury will decide not to indict."

"I could swear you'd gone to law school." Nina sat at her desk and took a sip from the coffee she'd gotten before they'd headed back. "You really think they might not indict?"

"Look at the man's reputation. He's put heaven only knows how many murderers away, and now…" Ed trailed off and sighed. "I don't know. That's what scares me."

"We'll be losing a good man if they do indict, and he gets convicted," said Nina, "They'll disbar him, he'll go to prison….he'll probably die in there."

"Nice, Cassady," Ed said mildly. "With any luck, he'll be able to talk his way out of this one."

"Murder isn't something you can talk yourself out of, not with evidence tying to you to all four of them. CSU finally got us the results from the fourth murder."

"I know they did." Ed trailed off again and shook his head. "Looks like things are finally going down to the wire."

* * *

Kaye's funeral came three days after she died. Two days after the police had interviewed everyone who'd worked with her. One day after Jack McCoy had been arrested for her murder, and three others.

"I can't do this."

Anna had been pacing back and forth for the past twenty minutes in the back, and now, she shook her head as she looked towards the front.

"I can't do this," she said, again. "I just…I can't. Trevor, why couldn't you just…"

But he shook his head at her. "You were her best friend," he said. "You're the only one that can do this."

"But I can't," Anna insisted, "It's too soon…I couldn't even talk at Claire Kincaid's funeral, what makes you think I'm going to be able to talk at this one?!"

"Because once you start, you won't be able to stop," Trevor said dryly, "Anna, come on. There is nothing for you to worry about. It's just a few minutes."

"Yeah, a few minutes in which I'm probably going to break down and start bawling and make a complete idiot of myself…I'm already on everyone's hit list because of what I'm doing."

"We don't always get to pick who our clients are," said Trevor, and she gave him a look.

"You know damn well that I chose to defend him, don't you dare go there with me," she said flatly, "I don't want to hear it."

There was silence between them after that. Anna stopped pacing, but the feeling that everyone was looking at her wouldn't go away. She gave an exasperated sigh and ran a frustrated hand through her hair.

"I hate this," she said, finally, in an undertone, so that only Trevor would hear her. "I hate feeling like everyone's going to hate me because I can't decide whose side I'm on."

"You don't have to be on anyone's side; they were both your friends. I doubt anyone really thinks McCoy did this."

"You'd be surprised. There are a lot on our side of the aisle who're probably just gloating over all this, thinking he's finally snapped, but he hasn't. They put him in protective custody, for heaven's sake."

"Why does this not surprise me?"

"I didn't ask for your sarcasm." Anna looked at her watch and sighed. "I hate funerals."

"Yeah, well, you're up," Trevor replied, "Might as well get it over with while you still have the nerve."

She gave him a look, but tugged at the jacket she was wearing, before rising to her feet and going to speak.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I swear I'm still working on this. And I know it takes forever for me to update, but I'm still working out a few details. So, for those of you who've stuck around this far, there's still quite a while to go...**

* * *

"We have more than enough to convict him."

Randy Holloway was definitely starting to get on her nerves. Connie glared at her fellow ADA and shook her head.

"We're not trying to convict him," she said. "Well, we are, but we aren't. This isn't some three-ring circus you get to use to show McCoy up."

"If he really did commit these murders, and we can prove it, we have an obligation to take him off of the streets," Randy insisted. "You know it as well as I do."

"I also know that innocent people are often convicted because prosecutors like you don't know when to let the hell go."

"If this is going to be your attitude about this, then I don't see why Branch is even letting you sit second chair."

"It's because no one else had free space in their calendar and because he knows you don't like McCoy. I'm here to rein you in if you get out of hand, Holloway. Don't forget it."

There was silence between the two prosecutors for a long moment, before Connie went on. "What exactly have the police given you?"

"Everything they have," said Randy, sounding quite different than he had sounded a few seconds ago. "Fingerprints, blood, the old case files…"

"Let me have a look at them," said Connie, and everything was put on her desk. She sighed.

"This is a lot of stuff to go through," she muttered. "The forensics, ballistics…all here?"

Randy nodded. "Nothing's been left out," he said. "The detectives told me that their crime labs went over everything at least twice. Didn't want to make any mistakes."

"I should think not," Connie said sarcastically. "Do we even know when this is going to trial?"

"Figured we should at least give him the chance to plead out," Randy admitted. "I might not like the guy, but come on. He doesn't deserve to be dragged through a full-out trial."

"Nice to see you have some amount of decency in you," Connie said sarcastically. "I'll assume you've bothered to contact his attorney?"

Randy gave her a startled look. "Thought he was defending himself?" he said, uncertainly. Connie rolled her eyes.

"He could if he wanted to," she says, "Both of us know that. As it is, he's being represented by someone else."

"And that someone else would be?" Randy asked. Connie sighed and ran a tired hand through her hair.

"Anna Flynn," she said. "I suggest that since you're the one running this case, you talk to her. We'll need a meeting if you're going to talk plea bargains."

"Will do," said Randy, dryly, and then, "Anything else I should know, since it appears that you're actually the one running this show?"  
Connie gave him a look. "Only that if you come to me after she tears you a new one for making some comment about Jack, I will have no sympathy whatsoever," she said.

"So she's friends with him."

"You could say that. Now go, before I give Branch a reason to take you off of this."

* * *

"The guards told me you haven't eaten lately." It had been three days since Kaye's funeral and four days since he'd been taken into custody. Now, he turned to face her and sighed.

"I don't see the point," he said, plainly. "And they're lying, besides; I ate this morning. Just because they didn't see me…"  
"Jack, have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?" Anna asked, quietly, "You look like hell."

"I'm aware of that." He motioned to the clothes he was wearing. "Look at me, for heaven's sake. I shouldn't be here."  
"I know that. Believe me, I know that. And I'm working on it." Anna trailed off, awkwardly, and after a long moment, went on. "District Attorney's office wants a meeting."

Jack gave her a startled look, and then laughed, the sound coming more harshly than he'd meant it to.

"Now they want to talk to me," he said. "That's lovely. I suppose they've delegated ADA Rubirosa to running this?"

"Actually, she's sitting second chair," Anna admitted. "DA Branch put another ADA over this…Holloway, I think was the name."

Jack swore softly under his breath. "Great," he said sarcastically, "Arthur knows damn well that Holloway can't stand me…"

"I suppose it's why Ms. Rubirosa is sitting second chair; someone to keep Mr. Holloway in check," said Anna. "You shouldn't worry…" Jack cut her off.

"Shouldn't worry," he said. "Right. I shouldn't worry that I could lose everything, shouldn't worry that I'm probably going to end up dead before this even goes to trial…"

"All you're doing is making things worse for yourself," said Anna, sounding slightly upset. "I don't like this any more than you do, but honestly, Jack, could you at least pretend to cooperate with me?"

He sighed. He could tell that her patience was wearing thin, and he didn't want her to walk away again, so he turned to face her again from where he was, and nodded.

"I don't know if pretend is the right word," he said, and Anna shook her head, an exasperated look on her face.

"Do you want to meet with the ADAs or not?" she asked, and he looked away again.

"Whatever you want to do," he said, and she stared at him. Something was definitely off. In any other instance, he'd push to do things his own way, but now…

"Jack, I meant it," she said, finally, "Do you want to meet with them, or not? We don't have to do this."

"Did they even tell you what they wanted, or did they leave that out?" Jack asked in reply. "Or do I not want to know?"

"They said they wanted to talk," said Anna. "That was all I could get out of them. They're willing to meet whenever you are."

"And I'm supposed to go and see them like this?" Jack asked dryly. "Anna, I really don't think…"

"I went to your apartment building," Anna admitted, without looking at him. "Told the super I was your sister; he gave me a key. I brought you clothes."

Jack laughed. "You are a piece of work," he told her. "I can't believe…" He trailed off for a moment, and shook his head. "I don't know how I'm ever going to…repay you for this…"

Anna rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. "To the District Attorney's office, then?" she asked.

"Don't we have to meet them here?" he asked in reply.

"About that," said Anna. "I…ah…well, to put it shortly, as of now, you're out on bail."

"On…but…" Jack started, but she cut him off.

"Don't ask, don't tell," she said. "Don't worry, I didn't do anything illegal. Now, come on."

* * *

"Twenty-five to life."

"That's ridiculous. Your case is circumstantial at best. Blood and fingerprints can all be planted, Mr. Holloway, and we all know it."

Way to greet someone, Anna thought dryly as she walked into one of the conference rooms located within the DA's office.

"The evidence can't be excluded, because no rights were violated, whatsoever. It all came from the crime scenes themselves. We didn't have to resort to anything. We don't even need a confession, Ms. Flynn."

"Believe you me, by the time we're finished, a confession is the only way Mr. McCoy will spend any more time in prison than he already has."

Anna sat, but Jack remained on his feet, rocking back and forth nervously. It was strange, because usually, he was the one sitting opposite Anna, but no…someone else was there, now.

"Have it your way, then. Four murders, Ms. Flynn. Four. Including that of someone you knew quite well." Randy shot back. "You would think…"

"That I would be interested in justice, Mr. Holloway, which I am. I don't get to pick my clients, nor do you get to pick the people you prosecute."

"No, I suppose the police do that for me, now don't they?" Randy asked sarcastically. "Do you really think an offer of anything less would signify to this city and these people that justice is being served?"

"You would think you would have the decency to place the benefit of the doubt with a fellow prosecutor, but apparently not," Anna said sarcastically. "The police may have been over the evidence time and time again, but we're all lawyers here. We know the things that can happen."

"And we all know that the NYPD doesn't fool around when it comes to crime," said Randy. "You're wasting your breath if you think that I'll go any lower than I already have. I could nail him for murder one if I wanted."

"If you wanted," Anna scoffed. "You make it sound like this is some sort of career builder. Nail Jack McCoy, and you might just be the next District Attorney. I'll have you know that I have no intention whatsoever of playing any of your games."

"Truth remains, Ms. Flynn, that the decision is up to your client. If Mr. McCoy chooses to take this, you have no choice but to let him."

"No, but I can call him an idiot, and he'll have to listen to me, now won't he?"

Jack bit back the desire to laugh at this, and shook his head. "Forget it," he said. "I won't take a plea bargain and pretend to be guilty of something I'm not."

"You're only hanging yourself here," said Connie, the first she had spoken since the meeting had begun. "If this goes to trial and you're convicted, you'll lose everything."

"I'll lose everything if I take this plea bargain, and I'm not ready to take that gamble just yet," said Jack, flatly. "I know the two of you are only trying to do your jobs, and make this easier on anyone, but I can't take this deal and live with myself."

"So you're going to let this get dragged out to a trial?" Connie asked in disbelief. Jack sighed, but nodded.

"I don't see what else I can do," he said. "The evidence points out what it does. All I can do is hope that a jury will see it for what it is."

"A cover up, right?" Randy asked, dryly. Anna shot him a look.

"Anything is possible," she said, bluntly, and rose to her feet. "If the two of you have nothing else to do, I'm taking my client home."

They left. She realized how awkward that had sounded as soon as the door swung shut, and shook her head at the amused look Jack gave her.

"We are _not_ going there."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Currently working on the next chapter, so it should be up sometime soon. **

* * *

"You'll both be called upon to testify as to the scenes, and evidence found, and also as to the interview with McCoy."

Connie had come to the two-seven, partly to get away from Randy and partly because she wanted to be the one to speak to the detectives. She had the feeling that her fellow ADA would only piss them off and that was not what she needed to happen.

"If you think we're really going to help you put him away," Ed started, but Connie shook her head.

"That's not what I'm looking for," she said. "I swear to you, that's not what I'm looking for. All I need is for the two of you to tell what you know. Whatever happens, happens."

The two detectives exchanged glances. That definitely didn't sound good. Neither of them needed to have been to law school to know that evidence alone could convict someone, never mind a confession.

"Has he said anything?" Nina asked, finally, "To the District Attorney's office, I mean?"

"He and his lawyer met with ADA Holloway and myself yesterday," said Connie. "Holloway tried to offer a plea bargain."

"Idiot," said Ed. "Did he really think it was going to work?"

"As a matter of fact," said Connie. "I figured it was just him trying to show that he has some measure of decency, though you'd never know it by looking at him. Jack wouldn't take it."

"Because of whoever's representing him, or because he really doesn't want to take it?" asked Nina.

"Both," said Connie. "I don't like this any more than you guys do, but we've all got our backs against a wall here. It looks like this is going to trial."

"Is McCoy still at Rikers?" Ed asked. Connie shook her head.

"No, and thank heaven for it," she said. "His attorney got him out on bail. I don't know how she did it, but she did."

"When does the trial start?" Nina asked, and Connie sighed, drumming her fingertips on the surface of the other woman's desk.

"We're waiting for a trial date," she said. "We're hoping it'll be soon. I'm thinking that all of us want this to be over as soon as possible."  
Ed gave a derisive snort and shook his head. "You can say that one again," he said dryly. "The sooner we can move on, the better. This is starting to remind me of SVU's last high-profile case."

"The reporters are probably going to be around until this is over, I'm afraid," said Connie, apologetically. "I know you guys don't like it, but we don't have any grounds to get them to back off. They haven't crossed any lines yet."

"Maybe we should find a way to make them," said Nina, mildly. "I swear the minute one of them walks into this precinct…"

"Try not to cause any trouble, will you?" Connie asked. "The last thing we need right now is for the defense to put you on trial."

"They've already got one of us on trial," said Ed. "The hell would they want me and Cassady for?"

"You're the one who brought up SVU's last high-profile press case," said Connie. "Think about it."

* * *

The reporters had disappeared from his apartment building. Apparently, they'd decided they had better things to do. Anna used the key she'd gotten from the superintendent of the building to get inside, and walked up to Jack's apartment. The door was unlocked, so she stepped inside.

"That you, Anna?" Jack's voice drifted from the back and went on before she could answer. "You know where everything is; make yourself at home."

She bit her lip to keep from laughing at this. "You just get out of the shower or something?" she asked.

"That's for me to know and you to figure out later," came the reply, and then there was Jack, looking better than he had two days ago. "What brings you here?"

"Other than the fact that I'm set to defend you in a murder trial, you mean?" Anna asked dryly. "Figured we could go over a few things. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"  
Jack shook his head and wandered into the kitchen. "No," he said, "I don't. You want anything to drink?"

"Coffee would be great; I haven't had any this morning, and I'm almost dead on my feet," Anna replied.

"Did you not sleep last night?" Jack asked, sticking his head out of the kitchen to look at her. She shrugged.

"No big deal," she said. "I don't sleep very well when I've got a case like this on my hands."  
"Maybe that's the key to winning, then," said Jack, "If it can work for you, then it can work for anyone."

"I don't think it'd work for you; I've known you long enough to know what you're like when you haven't slept." Anna said mildly. "They've already got what they need to nail you. What we have to do is figure out how to get the jury to believe that it's a setup."

"I don't see that happening, honestly," Jack remarked. "Why would they believe it's a setup when they have everything they need?"

"Because that's what we're aiming for," said Anna, "The only way you're screwed over is if I can't prove that someone's trying to set you up to take the fall for them."

"Do you have any idea how many people out there would be willing to try that?" came the reply, and Anna rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'm aware of that," she said. "I'm also aware of the fact that you and I are not going to just sit here. Right now, you don't exactly have a choice but to cooperate with me, now do you?"  
"Suppose we do manage to prove what you're aiming for," said Jack, coming out of the kitchen with two mugs in his hands, "Then what?"

"Then everyone will be forced to leave it all alone, because there'll be nothing else for them to speculate about," said Anna. "Neither of us can know for sure that you'll still have your job, but at least you won't be disbarred."

"Some comfort," Jack said dryly. "I won't be disbarred, but I might not remain a prosecutor, either."

"You could always try my side of the aisle, you know. It's really not that bad."

"I think I'm too used to playing the prosecutor to want to turn defense so late in the game."

"Yeah, I figured." Anna trailed off and sighed. "Shall we get started, then?"

* * *

It rained. Somewhere along the lines, the weather had decided to turn the way everything else had: for the worst. Even so, it didn't mean their job was over. Another anonymous tip had come in.

"If this doesn't lead to anything, then we're being played," said Nina, frowning slightly. "Which would mean the key to breaking this case is to find out who's playing us."

"I don't think there are going to be any more murders," said Ed. "It would only prove that McCoy hasn't done anything."

"Either that, or he's got someone hired to do it," said Nina. "Either way, it'd be enough to revoke bail."

"If they could prove he actually had something to do with it," said Ed, but he didn't sound convinced. "What exactly did this anonymous informant of yours tell you?"

"That we'd find something buried here," said Nina. "That would explain why CSU's digging around."

"Got something over here!" said one of the techs, and the two detectives exchanged glances as they walked over. The tech held up a small plastic storage bin.

"Thanks," said Nina, "We'll take it from here."

The tech walked off. She looked at her partner and sighed. "Here's to hoping this is good news," she said.

"Any news right now is good news, unless it's a conviction," Ed said dryly, and moved the umbrella so it was over the bin Nina held, as well. "Might as well open it."

"Think we ought to open it at the precinct, so the lieutenant can see what's in here?" Nina asked. Silence, for a brief moment, and then Ed nodded.

"Yeah, that'd probably work," he said. "Come on, let's head back to the precinct."  
He reached into his pocket for the keys, and they left. The bin sat in Nina's lap on the way there.

"We're gonna have to hand this back over to CSU once we're finished looking through it," she remarked. "It's been in here; we'll probably be able to get some sort of forensics from it."

"Unless our guy is smart and used gloves and whatnot," Ed pointed out. "I don't think it's any use keeping fingers crossed at this point."

"Sure it is," said Nina, but didn't sound all that convinced. "The District Attorney's office can't possibly want to convict one of their own."

"True, but it's not like they can make it look like that. They might not want to convict him, but if they have to, then they'll sure as hell try to."

They'd reached the precinct. Walking inside, Nina eyed the bin she still carried and sighed.

"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to turn out well?" she asked, and Ed looked over at her.

"Because it probably won't," he said. "The last time we got one of these anonymous tips, we went to the wrong person."  
Nina made a face. "Don't remind me," she said. "If we'd just looked harder, we could've stopped that last murder, but no…"

"A move to make us look incompetent, you think?" Ed asked, and knocked on the door to the office.

"It's open," came the reply, from inside. He pushed the door open and Nina walked in. He followed and closed the door behind him.

"Anonymous tip came in," said Nina. "Said we'd find this in a lot near the precinct."

"Have you opened it?" Anita asked in reply, but Nina shook her head.

"No. Figured we'd do it here," she said, and put the bin down on the desk. "We'll hand it over to CSU once we've determined what's inside it."

"Which would be?" Anita asked.

"We weren't told," said Ed. "All that was said was that we'd find it, and then nothing."

"Shall we, then?" said Nina, and when Anita nodded, she pulled the lid off of the bin and pulled on a pair of gloves before taking out the contents.

"A book," said Ed. "What the hell does that have to do with any of what's happening now?"

Nina ignored him and opened it. Out fell a bunch of papers. She looked over them and then handed them to her partner, frowning.

"A hit list," she said. "The first four names are scratched off."  
"If this is a hit list, then why is McCoy's name on it?" Ed asked, motioning to the last name on the list. "Either this isn't his, or…"

"Or he means to kill himself when it's all over, before a conviction," said Nina, slowly. "Either that, or before it got to this point in the first place."

"DA's going to have to present this as evidence," said Anita. "Hand it over to CSU, have them look over it, and then send it to the DA's office."

And that was that. The two detectives exchanged glances and walked out of the office, looking slightly disgruntled.

"I don't think that list is his," said Nina. "I really don't. Other than the obvious and the reasons we can think of, why the hell would he put his own name on it?"

"We could always have it looked over by someone who knows handwriting," said Ed. "That could prove something."

"Yeah, it could prove that either he wrote it himself, or someone's damn good at mimicking people's handwriting," said Nina, reluctantly, and then, "I suppose it's all we have left."

"This is the first time we've ever had a reason to work for the defense," Ed remarked, as they left the squad room to head for the crime lab.

Nina gave a derisive snort. "Hell of a reason, no?"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I think my muse just went and complicated things. But I'm still working on it, so there you have it. **

* * *

"Let me warn you now that if you skip out on me, I will hunt you down."

Anna pushed the door to her house open and walked in, flipping on a light. Jack stared at her as he followed her in.

"Don't tell me you've used this place as collateral," he started, but she shook her head.

"I did," she said, "Which is why if you skip out on me, I'll come after you."

She wandered into the kitchen. He watched her go, suddenly feeling guilty.

"Anna, I can't ask you to do all of this," he said. "It…it's too much."

"You aren't asking, and I trust you," she replied. "Jack, really. Don't worry about it."

Don't worry about it, she says, he thought. He could've laughed, but he didn't. Wandering into the kitchen after her, he shook his head.

"This will look awkward," he said quietly. "Anna, my reputation is bad enough as it is right now; I don't want to ruin yours, too."

"You won't, trust me. I'm not the only attorney who's gone out on this far of a limb for a client." Anna poured a glass of orange juice and took a sip. "I'll show you where everything is in a minute."

He gave her a sideways look. "I could've just checked into a hotel or something," he said.

"I won't have you anywhere the press can get to you. If they come here, I can make them go away."

She trailed off for a moment and then went on. "If it makes you uncomfortable, I can just trade you places."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"Well, it's settled." Anna downed the rest of her orange juice and motioned for Jack to follow her. "Come on; I'll show you where you'll be staying."

She wandered out of the kitchen and down into a finished basement. "Not what you were expecting, I'll bet, but it's something," she said. "Bought this house after I got divorced. Finally got tired of Manhattan."

Jack laughed. "Well, there's no place better than Staten Island to get away from it all, now is there?" he asked dryly. Anna rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it," she said. "The place has its own entrance and whatever, so you don't have to keep the same hours I do, and honestly, I don't really care if you do, so long as you don't leave the city."

"I wouldn't do that to you, Anna," Jack said, seriously, and she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I know you wouldn't," she said, mildly, "Unlike certain others I could name, but we aren't going there."

There was silence between the two of them. Jack looked at Anna for a long moment, and wondered why she seemed so cynical about the whole relationship thing, and then decided that he wasn't going to go there. Suddenly she looked a lot more tired than she had before.

"If this is going to be a bother to you, we don't have to do this," he said, again. "I know this isn't easy for you."

"It's fine, really," said Anna, "Only problem is that I only have one kitchen, so…"  
"It'll work," said Jack, "I'll just…try to make it so that you don't know I'm here."

"What if I want to know that you're here?"  
The words escaped her before she could really think about them, and she was glad she wasn't facing him, because her face had gone a brilliant shade of red.

""Then you'll know, but I Refuse to be a burden," Jack replied, slowly, "Anna, are you all right?"

"I don't know," she admitted, still without looking at him. "I just…I don't know."  
She wiped at her eyes, then, and hoped he didn't notice, even though it wasn't really likely and she knew it. "We can…ah…go and get clothes and such in the morning, if you'd like."

And then his hand was on her shoulder, and he was leading her gently upstairs.

"I think we need to call it a night," he said, when they reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the top level. "I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

The morning, however, brought news of another murder. Anna's cell phone went off before her alarm did, and she fumbled for it.

"Hello?"

"Anna, the police are looking for McCoy."

She sat up, suddenly wide awake. "Trevor? What the hell…why are they looking for him?"

"There's been another murder." Trevor must have just been driving, because there was silence for a second, and then a door closing. "They haven't found him yet, but I thought you'd want to know."

"Well, of course I'd want to know!" Anna exclaimed, shoving the covers away from her and going to get dressed, quickly. "How did you find out?"

"I was listening to the news this morning on my way to the office," Trevor replied. "They haven't been able to find him, like I said."

"And they think he's skipped bail."  
"If they don't find him, this doesn't bode well for you."

"Of course it doesn't, you know damn well I put my place up as collateral. They've already tried his apartment?"  
"They did. They think he's still in the city…Anna, do you know where he is?"

"As a matter of fact. If the police come to the office, let them know that I will take him to the 27th Precinct."  
"Will do."

Anna flipped her phone shut and ran a frustrated hand over her face. This definitely wasn't good. Now the District Attorney's office had everything they needed, and more. Yanking on a pair of shoes, she grabbed a jacket and went downstairs to the kitchen. Jack was already there.

"You don't look so good," he said, eyeing her intently, "What's wrong?"  
Anna reached for her keys. "I'd make breakfast, but we don't have time," she said, almost apologetically. "The police are looking for you. I just got a call from one of the guys at my office."  
"I can't possibly have done anything this time; I was here all night, for heaven's sake," said Jack, dryly. "Do you have any idea what they want?"  
"No, but they're starting to think you've skipped bail. I told Langan to tell them if they came by the office that I would bring you in."  
"They think that I…" Jack rose to his feet and reached for his own coat. "I won't have this coming down on you. We should go, now."  
And so they did. The 27th Precinct was more busy than it had been the last time he'd been there and he ignored the detectives that looked at him. So did Anna. They were sent back into one of the interrogation rooms, where he sat, feeling somewhat numb. Anna remained on her feet. When the door swung open, she glared at the first person she saw.

"I'd like to know what the hell you think constitutes a citywide search for my client," she said, flatly.

Nina glared back at her. "Another murder," she said, icily. "I'm afraid there's no other conclusion that my partner and I can draw about this case."

"Well, then show us what you've got, or we're gone," said Anna. "We're both lawyers, I'm sure we'll be able to tell if you've actually got anything that won't be thrown out in court."  
The two detectives exchanged glances. This was definitely not going to be easy, and that was without the fact that it was early in the morning.

"He can't possibly get out of this one," said Ed, putting a file on the table. "Added to the other cases, you'll be lucky if the prosecution doesn't go for murder one."  
"Premeditated or cop killings," said Anna, and opened the file. There in front of her was the faintly smiling face of a uniformed officer.

"Five years on the force," said Nina. "Two years ago, she testified in a case, but the jury saw fit to acquit the defendant."

"A family?" Jack asked, the first he'd said since the conversation had begun. Both detectives looked at him.

"According to her partner and others at the four-nine, she'd just come off maternity leave. Her first child," said Nina.

There was silence between the four of them. After a while, Anna spoke again. "What happened to her?"  
"She was murdered, obviously," Nina said dryly. "Special Victims picked it up, if that tells you anything."  
"She was raped?" Anna asked, and both detectives nodded.

"From what we got from the one-six. We had 'em put a rush on forensics last night after they got a name and we looked it up." said Ed.

"And you found out she'd testified in a case that I lost," said Jack, slowly. Both detectives nodded.

"Back when Southerlyn was still here," Ed told him. "The evidence from this one alone can hang you."  
"What do they have?" Anna asked. "And rest assured, Detectives, it had better be good, because I'm not going to sit here and let you people railroad anyone."  
"We're not trying to railroad anyone; we've been trying to help, but we can't do that anymore!" said Nina, "Not with this one. He either cooperates, or the DA's not only going to charge him with five murders, but with rape."

"You can't prove any of it, other than the evidence you have, and let's face it, Detectives, you got nothing. All of those things you have can be planted," said Anna.

"All we need right now is an alibi," Ed told her, "You know the drill as well as we do. If you can prove you weren't at the scene of the crime at any point or time last night, then you can go, but otherwise, bail's gonna get revoked, and we all know it."  
They did. There was more silence. Jack looked at Anna, and then at the two detectives.

"I was home," he said, "Alone. All night. Didn't leave to go anywhere, and I doubt anyone saw me."  
He was digging his own grave. Anna moved to say something, but he went on before she could.

"I know it's not what you're looking for, and I know it's not enough, but what reason do I have to lie to you?"  
He was already lying. Anna gave him a furious look when the detectives exchanged glances and then left the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded. "Why didn't you tell them where you really were?"

"I already told you that I won't have any of this coming down on you, and I meant it. Let them think I was home alone. I don't want people to think of you the same way they think of me."  
More silence. Anna was starting to become annoyed by it. Now she ran a tired hand through her hair, and then shook her head, effectively ruining what she'd just done.

"Jack, I don't care what people have to say about me; what don't you get about that?" she asked. "This is your life we're talking about here. They could stick a needle in your arm for this, now."  
"I know that."

"Then why the hell are you doing this?" Anna demanded, again, and then, "Never mind. You know what, I don't know, and I don't want to know."

"You could walk away from this."  
"I'm not leaving you to face this on your own!"  
Another silence. Now it was definitely annoying. Anna finally came to sit down and gave an exasperated sigh.

"I'm not walking away from this," she told him, again. "You can forget it right now if that's what you were trying to get me to do, because I won't."

Jack shook his head and turned to look out the lone window in the room. "I don't get it," he said, finally. "Everything was going just fine, and then all of this came along…"  
"Life has a nasty habit of throwing the unexpected into our faces," she said quietly, "We'll get through this."

* * *

Then again, maybe they wouldn't. An argument over bail was taken to the courts, and the next thing anyone knew, it was like the beginning of this, all over again.

"Think about it this way," said Jack, before he was led off, "At least you won't lose anything."  
Anna bit back a sarcastic retort, and turned away, so she wouldn't see him disappear behind another set of doors. This was _not_ how it was supposed to go. Something was definitely off, but if the police couldn't see it…she doubted anyone would.

"I hope you don't hold this against me." Connie's voice startled Anna out of her thoughts; she glanced at the younger lawyer and shook her head.

"No," she said, "You're just doing your job; why would I hold it against you?"  
Connie shrugged. "I don't know," she said, and then, "Listen, this probably isn't going to look right, but I'm at the point where I don't care anymore. Do you want to go to lunch or something?"

Anna looked at her for a long moment, and then nodded as she gathered her things. "Yeah," she said, "Yeah, that'd be nice; a way to take our minds off of all of this."

She slid her bag onto her shoulder, and followed the other woman out of the courtroom. Once they were out of the building, Connie spoke. "You know, a lot of people are saying this is gonna turn into a conflict of interest for you," she said.

Anna laughed. "I know," she said. "I've heard the rumors. They're floating around my office, too. I'd like to think I can keep my eyes open and do my job properly, but you never know."

"If you don't mind my asking, how do you go from avoiding him completely and not speaking to him at all to defending him in one of the biggest cases we've seen so far?"

"He's a friend of mine," said Anna, "That's all. What sort of friend would I be if I just gave up on him and joined in with all the others who are talking?"  
Good question, Connie thought, dryly, and a little bit guiltily as well, because she'd talked, if only to hear what other people were saying, but she had still talked.

"Suppose you wouldn't really be," she said finally, and Anna shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't be," she said. "That's why I'm here. And for the record, I don't hate him. I just needed to clear my head."

"Did it work?"

"I'm not too sure."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I have no idea where this came from. It's kinda random, but it fits. In other news, rumor has it that McCoy might be our district attorney next season, so...yeah. I'll leave you all to read. **

* * *

"He's refusing any visitors."

Those four words had been bothering her ever since they'd been spoken to her three days ago. She'd gone slamming into her office, afterwards, and it was in her office that she sat now. The fact that it was getting late didn't help, at all.

"Stubborn, idiotic son of a…" She trailed off and shook her head. Nice, Anna, she thought, sarcastically. Now you're talking to yourself. But there wasn't anyone else to talk to. And she still had a case to try. The trial was set for Monday.

The office door opened suddenly, and Anna looked up. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Are you Anna Flynn?" came the reply, and when Anna nodded, the younger woman came into the office.

"If you wouldn't mind," she said, uncertainly, "I need to talk to you. About…about this trial…"

"It'd help if I had a name," said Anna.

"Oh, yeah…" The other woman trailed off, and then spoke again. "Rebecca McCoy."

"Ah." Anna leaned back in her seat and motioned for Rebecca to sit. "Suppose you haven't had any luck at the prison?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No," she said, "I have. The guards told me that I'm the only one he'll agree to see."

Well, Anna thought, at least he's seeing someone.

"You said you wanted to talk to me about the trial," she said, "What do you want to know?"  
"Everything," Rebecca admitted, "But I do understand the attorney/client privilege thing, so whatever you can tell me…"

Anna sighed. "If you don't mind my asking, what exactly is your relationship…?"  
"My father," said Rebecca, sounding about as tired as Anna looked. That was certainly something, Anna thought, in all the time she'd known Jack, he'd never mentioned a child before. Finally, she nodded slowly.

"Well, to put it nicely, it doesn't look good," she said. "It'd help if he'd let me talk to him, but he seems determined to avoid me."

"It isn't you," said Rebecca, "At least, that's what he said to me. I just…I came to you because he won't tell me anything."

"Of course not," said Anna, dryly. "You have to understand that a lot is riding on this trial, and your father…he's trying to deal with it, but it doesn't appear to be working."  
Rebecca offered up a rueful smile. "I know," she said. "I just…I can't believe he'd do something like this. I won't believe it. He's not…he isn't a violent person."

"I know he isn't," said Anna, "Believe me, I know. And I intend to see this through, whether he wants to talk to me or not."

"Finally, a defense attorney one can actually trust," said Rebecca. Anna laughed.

"You truly are a prosecutor's daughter," she said, shaking her head. "Sooner or later, someone will get to the bottom of this. I promise you that."

There was silence between the two of them for a moment…a moment in which Anna rethought her words. Such a promise seemed almost impossible to keep, especially right now.

But she wasn't about to tell Rebecca that…not yet, anyway.

* * *

It rained. It had been clear earlier, but all of a sudden, it had started pouring. The 27th Precinct was quiet, other than the sounds of Ed and Nina finishing paperwork they'd fallen behind on.

"We still have those files our vics were involved in?" Nina asked finally, and Ed looked over at her.

"Yeah, we've still got 'em," he said, and pushed them from his desk onto hers. "Trial's on Monday, though."

"Yeah, I know. Something just…I don't know." Nina trailed off and started rifling through files. "Come look at this."

"What'd you find?" Ed asked, slowly, rising to his feet and walking over to her side. She motioned to one of the files.

"This is the only file in which any threats were made towards the prosecutors, so I don't see why we didn't catch it," she said. "McCoy and Abbie Carmichael both declined to file charges regarding it."

Ed looked at the file and frowned. "I remember this one," he said. "Right after Abbie got here. The one our first vic was involved in."  
"Defendant was a woman by the name of Tara Galinet," said Nina. "We need to find her."  
"It's two in the morning," Ed pointed out. "Neither of us have slept in a while. We'll have a better chance of locating her when we aren't dead on our feet."

"That's what coffee is for," said Nina, and then, "Guess you have a point. I just want this to be over with. The sooner we find her, the better."  
"We don't even know if she's still in the city," said Ed, "It could take until this trial's over, and by then, the DA will probably have gotten the conviction they're looking for."

"You sound so sure that they're looking for a conviction."

"The last victim was a cop. If they weren't, the department would've been raising hell by now, not to mention the rest of the city."

He had a point, and she knew it. The department would've been raising hell, and the city would have been, too. Whether the District Attorney's office was looking for a conviction or not, they had to make it appear as if they were.

"She still has family listed in the city," said Nina, examining the file. "Might be outdated, but it's still worth a shot, isn't it?"

"They might not be so willing to give her up. She was acquitted, remember? They'll probably assume we're trying to nail her for this."

"If it turns out that she's the person we're looking for, then yes, we are trying to nail her for this," Nina said dryly. "Come on, Ed, you've got to be kidding me if you don't believe that she could possibly have something to do with this."

"I find it hard to believe that we didn't pick up on this before. You'd think we'd have noticed."

"We've been too focused on trying to solve murders to really look before now."

"Galinet's address should be on file somewhere. We'll go looking as soon as the sun comes up." Ed looked at his watch and sighed. "Mind if I skip out until then?"

"No. Heaven only knows we deserve it," Nina replied dryly. "I'll call you if anything comes up."

* * *

True to their word, though, as soon as first light came, both detectives went in search of Tara Galinet. Nothing had come in during the time that Ed had been gone, which had Nina more than just a little bit frustrated.

"You'd think we'd have picked up on it," she said, sounding annoyed, with the case in general. "The only case where threats were made…"

"Whoever did this had to have known that, and had to have known that other murders would distract us," Ed pointed out. "We're dealing with four now."

"Yeah, but still," said Nina, "We should've been able to pick up on it. McCoy might not remember all his cases, but surely he'd remember being threatened."

"I don't think he pays much attention to it," Ed remarked. "I wouldn't."

"We get threatened on a regular basis; we're cops," Nina said dryly. "You got the address still? We should try the house again."

"Right here." He held it out; she looked at it, and they headed off towards the place where they had started; Tara Galinet's last known address.

"She might've left the city," Nina said, almost to herself. "There's no guarantee that she's still here. If she thinks that we might have figured out a link between her and this case…"

"I doubt it. We've been running around in circles; first McCoy's innocent, and then he's not, and then he's out on bail, and now he's back in prison," said Ed. "Wherever Galinet is, it's somewhere nearby; she'll want to be able to gloat."

"Assuming it's even her," said Nina. "I can't believe…if it turns out that it is her…"

"Then there will be some way to nail her. Sooner or later, we're going to find her, whether she's left the city or not. There are other law enforcement agencies, you know.  
"Somehow I don't think handing this over to the Feds is the right way to go."

"Neither do I, but if we don't have a choice, then we're gonna have to." They'd reached the house. Now, both detectives got out of the car, and went to knock. This time, someone answered.

"I'm Detective Green; this is my partner, Detective Cassady," said Ed. "Is Tara here?"

The woman who'd answered the door frowned. "No. Tara's not here. She hasn't been here since your lot arrested her however long ago."

"Have you seen her at all?" Nina asked. "We'd like to ask her a few questions."

The woman snorted. "Questions, my foot. Don't think I haven't heard what's happened to that prosecutor who tried to railroad her. I don't feel one bit sorry for him. Even if I did know where Tara was, I wouldn't tell you."

And then the door slammed in their faces. The two detectives exchanged glances.

"Think we might need a warrant to get in?" Ed asked. Nina shrugged as they started back towards the car.

"I don't know," she said. "I'm thinking that we might. I'm also thinking that if Tara's disappeared, she might've taken on a new identity. It'd make the most sense."

"Another identity," said Ed, slowly, and then, "You think…someone we've talked to before?"

"Looks can be changed," said Nina, grimly. "That might be what's really going on here."

"It's gonna be hard to prove."

"But we're gonna prove it."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: And here goes nothing...I seriously have no idea where this came from, but there you have it. **

* * *

She had one day left until the trial. Saturday had once been one of her favorite days, because it usually meant she didn't have to do anything, but now…Now, Anna sat in her office, and stared, because it was all she could do. One day, and she was nowhere near ready to take this on. The fact that Jack was still refusing to talk to her wasn't helping matters.

"Anna?"

The office door had opened without her noticing, yet again, and she jumped, turning away from the computer screen. A low sigh escaped her as she saw who had spoken.

"Don't tell me," she said. "He called and asked you to talk me into letting this drop, and at the same time asked if you'd take up where I left off."

"He also warned me you'd probably be upset with him." came the reply. Anna rolled her eyes.

"First you sic Alyssa Goodwin on him, and then you want nothing to do with him, and now this," she said. "What's your game, Kelly?"

Kelly Monahan walked in, closed the door, and leaned back slightly against it. "There is no game. You can't force your way into representing a case, Anna, and you knew it from the beginning."

"I didn't force myself into anything," Anna shot back. "I showed up. He didn't have to take me up as legal counsel, and he knew it, and now he's being a jerk."

"Well, there's Jack for you," Kelly replied dryly. "We were married long enough; I know how he is."

"Well then I suppose you can tell me why the hell he'd want you to take this up for him." Anna said, sarcastically. "I gotta tell you, Kelly, I don't see it working."

"There's where you're wrong. He might be my ex, but I'm not as close to it as you are," said Kelly. "You can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Have you even talked to him? Face to face, I mean. Not over the phone. And without getting into some kind of fight?" Anna asked. Kelly smirked.

"I have, as a matter of fact; before I came here, to inform you that you're being relieved of your duties as legal counsel," she said. "I know you were trying to help, Anna, but honestly…" She trailed off. Anna scowled.

"Don't you dare walk into my office and start making snide remarks, like you're so much better than I am," she snapped. "You're worse than you were before, Kelly, do you know that?"

"I might've left the man; it doesn't mean I want to see him go down for murder." said Kelly dryly. "Neither does our daughter, for that matter. She told me she spoke to you."

"Oh, did she now?" Anna ran a frustrated hand over her face and glared at the older woman. "What else did she tell you?"

"That she got the impression you were a bit closer to all of this than you should be," said Kelly. "I don't know where she would've gotten that one."

There was no missing the hidden question in her statement. Anna shook her head. "Neither do I."

But it was a lie, and she knew it, so before Kelly could say anything, she went on. "If your daughter got that impression, it wasn't the one I meant to give. Jack and I are friends, and nothing more. You should know that as well as anyone."

"Yes, because so many of his lady lawyer friends have turned out to be just that," Kelly said dryly. "You're fooling yourself if you think I believe for one minute that a simple friendship is the only reason you took on this case."

Anna gave her a look. "You have no right to assume anything about my relationship with him, nor do you have the right to come in here and act like you actually give a damn," she said, angrily, "What are you getting out of this, Kelly? There has to be something."

"Whatever it is happens to be none of your concern," Kelly shot back, her voice turning cold. "All you need to know is that this is no longer your problem."

And then she turned, and left. Anna glared in the direction that Kelly had gone, long after the office door had slammed shut. No longer her problem. It should have relieved her, but it didn't. Turning back to face the computer screen, she blinked, once, and wondered why she felt so close to tears, yet again.

* * *

On the other side of town, Connie found herself in almost the same situation, though any tears that came from her would be ones of frustration rather than hurt.

"We're dealing with new counsel," Randy had announced upon seeing her that morning. "Kelly Monahan. You know anything about her?"

Oh, she knew plenty. There had been the off nights when she and Jack had both been late in the office going through things, and they'd ended up talking about other things as they worked. Now, Connie leaned back in her chair, and nodded.

"One of McCoy's former assistants," she said, because she'd found that somehow, she couldn't refer to him as 'Jack' as long as this was going on. "Married him, divorced him, one kid."

"And she's defending him now?" Randy asked, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "First Flynn tells us he's refusing any visitors other than family, and now his ex is playing the defense?"

"Don't ask," Connie told him flatly, "I don't know the story there, and I'm not going to gossip. This doesn't change how the trial is going to go."

"Sure it doesn't," Randy said dryly, "Monahan can either try to get him off on all charges, or she can try to railroad him. This is just great."

"Don't start with me, I'm not in the mood," said Connie, shaking her head at him. "We still have everything we need."

"All we have to do is make a jury believe that he really could have committed these murders," said Randy, "Have we heard back from the precinct on anything yet?"

"They're following a lead they've gotten," said Connie, "I haven't heard anything other than that."  
And it was true, too. Ed and Nina had called her earlier that morning and told her that the night before, they'd come across something. They were following up on it, and they would get back to her as soon as they found anything. She could only keep her fingers crossed that it would be before Monday morning at nine o'clock, but so far, she wasn't holding her breath.

"They still think there might be someone else involved?" Randy asked, almost incredulously. Connie glared at him.

"You might not like the guy, but that doesn't give you the right to be an ass about this," she said. "I know we're both trying to do our jobs, but having our opinions set from the get-go isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Innocent until proven guilty, Rubirosa," said Randy, "I know it as well as you do. And I certainly won't think he's guilty until a jury convicts him."

"Well, you could've fooled me," Connie muttered sarcastically, "Don't think I won't go to Branch if you keep going like this."

"Don't think that _I_ won't if this is the attitude you're going to keep through this mess. You're not the one running the trial, or have you forgotten that?"

"You're not an EADA yet, don't you dare stand there and act like you can order me around. You are _not_ my boss."

"Oh, and I suppose you still consider McCoy to be holding that role?"  
"Until he's convicted and disbarred, yes. But I doubt it'll happen. I prefer to keep an optimistic view, which is more than I can say for most people in this office!"  
It was quickly turning into an argument, and one she didn't want to get into. Right now, she had enough to sort out as it was, because Randy didn't appear to be doing much of anything, and it was starting to piss her off. But she wasn't about to let onto it.

"I'm still convinced that Branch is making a mistake by letting you sit second chair," Randy said finally. "Honestly, if you can't keep a subjective view on this…"

"I'm not the one you need to be lecturing on keeping subjective. Yes, I'm friends with the guy, but if he's guilty, he's guilty, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Silence. Randy gave her a look, but didn't say anything else, and instead, turned and left. Connie glared after him, and rose to her feet, reaching for her coat.

"If anyone asks, they can reach me on my cell phone," she said, when she passed him in the hallway. He gave her a startled look, but nodded, and she left the office.

* * *

When she ended up at the prison, she wasn't surprised. The guards left her in an interview room, and went off to get Jack, who was no longer being stubborn…for the most part. He still wouldn't see Anna.

"I'd ask you what you're doing here, but I have the feeling I'm not going to like the answer," he said, upon seeing her. She turned to look at him.

"The police are following up on a lead," she said, "They think they might be able to prove that someone else is behind all of this. How are you holding up?"  
"Better than I thought I'd be, honestly," said Jack, "It's…interesting, to say the least. I suppose you've been informed that I have new counsel?"  
"Why her?" The question escaped her before she could really think about it, and Connie waited, wondering if he'd answer. He sighed.

"I might not be able to stand her on a normal basis, but she is a good lawyer," he said. Connie gave him a look.

"So is Anna Flynn," she pointed out. "First you refuse to see her on Tuesday, on Friday, your kid goes to see her, and by Saturday, Kelly Monahan's playing defense. Want to explain that?"

"Not particularly," said Jack, dryly, and then, "Anna shouldn't have come around in the first place, and she knows it."

"But she did, because she obviously gives a damn about what happens to you," Connie retorted. "Holloway's convinced he can convict you on evidence alone, and I hate to tell you this, but he's right. Changing counsel in the middle of this wasn't exactly the smartest move."

"Neither was continuing with the same when there was a conflict of interest." came the reply, and it stopped Connie in her tracks.

"What?" she asked. "Conflict of interest…Jack, what the hell are you talking about?" she asked. He sighed.

"The last victim we know about was her best friend, and suddenly, she's defending the alleged murderer? If that isn't a conflict, I don't know what is."

"You think she'd try to railroad you." It was more of a question than the statement it sounded like, and before an answer came, Connie went on. "I might not have known her as long as you have, but the impression I got was that she really wanted to help you out of this."

"Well, she's done her job well, then. Most defense attorneys would like to make the impression that they're truly out to help their clients."

"I doubt I'll get that impression from Monahan. I haven't even met her yet, and I already know more than I'd like to."

"Knew I shouldn't have let you poke me into talking that night."

"This isn't funny, Jack. This is your life on the line. You're really that willing to throw it all away?"

"No, but I can't…I won't have it all coming down on someone I care about if this gets shot to hell."  
Dead silence. Connie ran a frustrated hand over her face and then spoke again. "So that's why you won't see her? Because you care about her? What the hell is that?"

"I don't know what it is," Jack said, flatly, "I couldn't figure it out before, and I can't figure it out now. All I know is that I don't want her to have to feel like she screwed up if I do get convicted."

"Are you that sure that's what's going to happen?"  
"I know what the evidence is, Connie. I know what the police have found, and I know that if they don't find something to prove that I couldn't have done this, I'll spend the rest of my life in this place."

More silence. Connie glared at him for a moment, and then sighed. "She knows that she's the only one you're refusing to see, you know."

"I know she does. And I wish it didn't have to be this way, but…" He trailed off and shook his head. "Life's got a strange habit of throwing the unexpected at us."

"Which would be why I'm sitting second chair," said Connie, dryly. "You know that deal is still on the table if you want to take it and spare yourself a needle."

"Why would I take a plea and admit in open court to something I haven't done?"

Connie bit back the desire to laugh. At least he hadn't given up completely, which was somewhat of a comfort, given everything that was piled up against him.

"I don't know," she said. "I certainly wouldn't, and I didn't really expect you to, either, but if it goes down to that…"  
"I'll think about it," said Jack, "But I can't promise you anything more than that."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm thinking there might be a follow up to this, but I'm not sure...in any case, here's an update. **

* * *

"…the prosecution will raised a number of questions, ladies and gentlemen, but for now, I ask you this: why? Why on earth would that man there all of a sudden go and commit four cold-blooded murders, when he has spent his life upholding the system? I am here to prove to you that he has done no such thing, and sincerely hope that you will be able to see this for what it is."

There was no denying that Kelly Monahan was good. Jamie had met her once before, and had been reasonably impressed. This, of course, had been before she had known that the other attorney had once been one of Jack's assistants. And now she was defending him. Jamie wondered as she listened to opening arguments if she should have taken herself off of this trial, and decided that if and when things got to a point where she really did have to, she would. There were familiar faces in the crowd, and ones she knew by name and reputation, all of them there in support of one Jack McCoy. It wasn't surprising.

There was, however, one face that Jamie did not recognize, or rather, couldn't place off the top of her head. And sitting in the back of the courtroom, where no one would notice her, Anna sat, and stared at her hands.

"That should be you," Trevor told her, and she shook her head.

"It should be whoever he wants to defend him," she said. "I'm just glad they haven't drawn one of the other judges."

"Do you think drawing Judge Ross will make a difference?" Trevor asked.

Anna shook her head again. "Not in that sense," she said. "But you know as well as I do that we've all made at least one enemy on the bench."

"I wouldn't exactly call Judge Ross an enemy; she's been on both sides of the aisle."  
"My point exactly." Anna twisted the bracelet she had on around her wrist and sighed. "I can't do this."

"You can't do what? Argue with me, or watch this trial?"

"Both." She'd been staring at the back of Jack's head for the past little while, almost wishing that he'd turn around and notice her, but he hadn't.

"You stare any harder, you'll burn a hole in the back of his head," said Trevor. "You really couldn't make it any more obvious that you wish he'd turn around and see you."

"He's giving me a taste of my own medicine now," she said, miserably, and then, "I can't do this."

"Then go," said Trevor, but Anna shook her head, yet again.

"Monahan makes me nervous," she admitted, without looking her friend in the eye. "I want to know what her game is."

"Don't tell me you're going to ask the police to look into this," said Trevor, but Anna cut him off before he could go on.

"I know how to play the game well enough," she said. "I could look into it myself if I wanted to, but I…I don't know if I want to."

"You don't want to know if she's in this to hurt him. To railroad him so badly that it'll be a piece of cake for the prosecution to nail one of their own."

"I don't even want to think about it, Trevor. It's bad enough that I'm sitting here watching this happen and knowing that I can't do a damn thing about it…" Anna ran a frustrated hand through her hair, and sighed. "I hate feeling helpless."

Helpless. That was definitely one word that Trevor would never have associated with Anna, and now, he gave her a sideways look.

"What makes you feel helpless?" he asked, slowly. She gave a rueful smile and stared down at her hands again.

"Not being the one up there," she said. "Having to sit here worrying that he's gonna get railroaded because of this…_person_ who's defending him now, and…just…everything. Right now, just everything."

"You know, Kaye probably would have told you to tell Kelly to shove it where the sun doesn't shine."

"I know she would have. But I'm not her, Trevor, I don't have the nerve she did, and I probably never will. Besides that…"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of Kelly Monahan."

"Hell no. I'm not afraid of her. Not in that way, anyway, but something about her…I met her after Claire died. And she just…I didn't get that great of an impression from her."

"Most people don't get that great of an impression from defense attorneys upon first glance. Did you get to know her?"  
"Yeah, I got to know her. And then, a little while after I do, I talk Jack out of his office, 'cause he'd been there all damn weekend, and we end up in some coffee shop and he tells me he'd been married to her."

"To Kelly?"

"Yeah, to Kelly. I gotta tell you, it didn't really surprise me. She's about nine years older than I am, not that it has anything to do with anything, but still…"

"Jealous much?"

"I'd hit you if we weren't in a courtroom."  
"I know you would." Trevor trailed off for a moment, and the low buzz that had been filling the courtroom seemed to overtake them both before he went on. "Anna, really, don't worry about it. If Monahan really is up to something, it'll come out before this is over."

* * *

When court was declared to be in recess, Anna finally got up to leave. For some reason, she hadn't had the heart to watch the proceedings, but she hadn't had the heart to leave, either. Trevor had already gone, having gotten a call. He'd apologized and promised to meet up with her later; she'd waved him off, not really caring. Now, she pulled her coat on and moved to leave the courtroom. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"It's good to see you here," said Connie, when Anna turned, "I wasn't sure you'd come."

"I almost didn't," Anna admitted, looking away from her, "I…ah…wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it. Guess I was wrong."

"We've got until the afternoon before we come back," said Connie, "You want to grab a coffee or something?"

Suddenly coffee sounded great. Anna realized vaguely that she hadn't eaten since the night before, and nodded. "That sounds wonderful right about now," she said. "Any place in particular?"

"There's a place nearby, in case we get called back unexpectedly," Connie replied. They left the courtroom. She gave the older woman a sideways glance and went on. "Are you all right?"

Anna shrugged. "I'm not sure," she said. "I just…I don't like being pushed aside, and especially not this time."

"Because it's Jack, or because it's Kelly Monahan doing the pushing?" Connie asked. Anna looked at her for a moment as they walked, and laughed.

"Both," she said. "I met her right after Claire Kincaid died, and she just…rubbed me the wrong way."

"Something I never really expected a defense attorney to say of another one," said Connie, shaking her head. "I gotta tell you, I don't think I like her much, either."

"Look at us, we're awful," said Anna, ruefully, "We probably shouldn't gossip about her, heaven only knows she probably has enough pressure from this case."

"Some people thrive under pressure; I think she's one of those," said Connie. Anna sighed.

"Well, I guess you could say that I'm not. I just…I don't get it. We've been going around in circles for so damn long, I just want to figure things out, but he doesn't want to talk to me."

"You did avoid him for quite a while before all of this got started, you know. I won't tell you that isn't why, because I don't know, but it could have something to do with it."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Jack and I have been friends for years, but there are still times when we're at each other's throats. That's when I'd expect him not to talk to me…not during this."

There was silence as they left the courthouse and headed down the sidewalk, moving with the flow of foot traffic.

"I see where you're coming from," Connie said finally. "He hasn't said much of anything to me, either."

"You're prosecuting him."  
"Holloway's prosecuting him; I'm just trying to keep the idiot from railroading him. I still don't know what Branch was thinking."

"He wanted someone who wouldn't screw it up, in case Jack really is guilty."

"Do you think he is?"

Silence. After what seemed like forever, Anna shook her head. "No," she said. "No, I don't. I've known him long enough to know that he…has his moments, but he's never been violent."

"I didn't think so," said Connie. They'd reached the place she'd spoken of. Now she pulled the door open and went on. "Shall we?"

* * *

"The prosecution has nothing."

"They have everything, and you know it."

They were sitting in a prison interview room. Jack had refused to sit, but Kelly had, and now, he paced, and shook his head at her. "They could nail me on this."

"Now you worry," said Kelly, dryly. "I'm telling you, that ADA they've got sitting first chair, sooner or later he's going to screw up this case, and then you'll be let go."

"Which gives them an opportunity to try the case again if the judge decides to allow it," Jack pointed out. "Between now, and then, if it comes, more evidence could have been found."

"You're shooting yourself in the foot, thinking like this," Kelly told him. "What are you so nervous about?"

"I'm not nervous about anything," Jack said sarcastically, "Only about losing everything I have, and the one job that's ever mattered."

"You're not going to lose anything. Not if I have anything to do with it. I still don't know what you were thinking, letting Flynn handle this in the first place."

"She's a perfectly capable attorney, and you know it."

"You're the one who said it was a conflict of interest, because you supposedly have feelings for her, though I can't for the life of me see why."

"I didn't ask for your sarcasm, Kelly. You're here for one reason, and one reason only. I wouldn't have even changed counsel if it hadn't been for our daughter, and you know it."

"Whatever. But either way, you're going to have to get over this feeling like you're going to get convicted, because if you keep going that way, you're going to get convicted."

"Wasn't it you who just told me that the prosecution has nothing?"

"That isn't exactly what I meant, and you know it. They have nothing as long as I can keep whatever they have to say out of the trial."

"You won't get away with much of that in Judge Ross' courtroom. She's worked both sides of the aisle, she knows every trick in the book."

"Yes, well, so do you and I. You're perfectly capable of serving as your own defense." Kelly trailed off, and went on. "I think you should."

"Are you telling me I should drop you as legal counsel?" Jack asked, looking at her with raised eyebrows. She rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm not telling you that you should drop me, and don't smirk at me, either, I know what you're thinking. It isn't because I'm looking for something. I'm just saying that it might help if you take a hand in this."  
"What makes you think that?"

"Could go to show that you actually are innocent."

"Or it could go to show that I'm an arrogant jerk of a prosecutor who's acting like the system's a pain in the ass because I have to deal with this."

"True."  
There was silence between them for a long moment, and Jack sighed. "If you want me to help, Kelly, then fine. I'll try, but I can't promise you anything."

"Since when could you ever promise me anything?" Kelly asked, dryly, and then, "Don't worry about it, all right? You saw how many people were in there. Most of them think you're innocent."  
"They're all cops and fellow prosecutors," Jack pointed out, but Kelly shook her head.

"I saw Trevor Langan and Danielle Melnick both there, and Flynn," she said. "Not all cops and prosecutors."

"Ok, then, I'll put it this way: a good part of the city's legal community," Jack said mildly, and then, "What do you think?"

"I think you are what you are, and nothing more," said Kelly, "But then again, I think that about almost everyone. Now are you gonna sit and cooperate with me or not?"


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I've decided that at some point, I'm probably going to explore things a little bit more both before and after this story takes place. In any case, here's an update. **

* * *

They met up at a restaurant. She didn't know why this one in particular had been chosen, but she'd left it up to Danielle, and so when the name had been given, she hadn't been all too surprised.

"Why is it that whenever you and I meet up, we always end up here?" Kelly asked as she came to sit down.

"Because it's familiar, and at least we know what we're getting here," Danielle replied. "It's been a while, Kelly. How've you been?"

"Considering what I've managed to get myself into, I would say that things could definitely be better, but before I decided to take up for this, everything was perfectly fine."

"I'm surprised you've taken this up at all," Danielle remarked, and the hidden question was too obvious to miss.

"You already know as well as I do that Rebecca's extremely upset about this. I know she talked to Anna, and I didn't get the impression that she trusted Anna all that much with what happens in this case." Kelly replied dryly.

"Could it be any more obvious that she's the product of a union between two lawyers?" Danielle asked mildly, and then, "What made you think she didn't trust Anna?"  
"I don't know. I just got that impression. And then I have Jack telling me that it's a conflict of interest, but he won't go into detail, other than the fact that he might actually feel as if he wants more than a friendship from her, and I find myself stuck in the middle, yet again."  
Silence fell between them, and after a moment, Danielle spoke. "I'm sure that's not what anyone intended, Kelly," she said. Kelly snorted.

"I doubt it," she said. "Somehow, I always end up in the middle. In between home and courtrooms, prosecution and defense, Jack and the DA's office…never ends."  
"I'm sure it does somewhere," said Danielle, "But you still haven't said anything about why you took this case on, other than the fact that your daughter's upset over it. But I know as well as you do that Rebecca's not the only reason why you took this up."

"I've had enough of the rumors, Danielle, I'm not looking to get into it again," said Kelly, almost tiredly. She took a sip from the glass of water in front of her before she went on. "Life is such that I take cases as they come, you know that."

"We all take cases as they come, but not every one of us ends up defending his or her ex in court," Danielle pointed out. "Most people would think you're out to railroad him, Kelly."

"I'm not out to railroad him, thanks," said Kelly, flatly. "I'd like to think that I have some sort of morals, even if I am a defense attorney."

Danielle laughed. "Point taken," she said. "I know you have morals, and I know you're not out to railroad him, but you do have to admit that it looks odd."

"And Flynn is one of those that buckles when too much pressure is put on her. We've both known her for quite a while. This is a high-profile case."

"I have the feeling she might have come out quite well in this particular case." Danielle paused for a moment and then sighed. "I must admit that I didn't expect to have so many people appear in the courtroom."  
"Half the city's watching the papers every day for news," Kelly said dryly. "They can't get into the courtroom to see for all the cops and prosecutors there."

"I'd say it's more than obvious that they all think he's innocent, wouldn't you?"  
"Well, of course they think he's innocent, everyone there has worked with him at one point or another. I could've sworn I saw Bell there, and Hawthorne, but it might've just been me."

"I didn't see them, but I'm sure I'll mention it if I do come across them there, though heaven only knows I can't see why they'd be there."

"You ask me, the only reason any defense attorney would be in there is to see him convicted, with the exception of you, me, Anna, and possibly Trevor Langan."  
"You sound like you're starting to doubt yourself."

Kelly shook her head and took another sip from the water in front of her. "I'm not. It's just…I don't know what it is, Danielle, I really don't. And I feel awful, because part of me is almost wishing that he is guilty, and then I look at the crime scene photos, and I know he…he's not capable of that."  
"Of course not," said Danielle, slowly. "It would take a lot for him to drop to the level of those he's prosecuted."

"Then what the hell is this?" Kelly asked, not bothering to hide the note of frustration in her voice. "What is this entire case? The murders, the evidence…it's all nothing! There's gotta be something else here…something we're not seeing."

"Are you sure you were never a cop before you became an attorney?" Danielle asked dryly, and Kelly gave a rueful laugh.

"Guess if you run prosecution and work with 'em long enough, you start thinking like 'em. I was an assistant, remember?"

* * *

She'd been talked into another case. The good part about it was that it was that it provided a distraction. The bad part was that it kept her out of the courtroom, when it was really where she wanted to be. As it was, she sat in the office now, having just finished a meeting with her latest client, and the silence was about to drive her up the wall.

"You do remember that I know where you live, right?" she said, to Trevor, when the door opened and she looked up to see him walking in. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"You need something to keep your mind off this other case," he said, simply. "It's not that I want to keep you away from it, Anna, it's that I don't want you to drive yourself up the wall any more than you already have."

"This new case is going to drive me up the wall," Anna muttered. "I swear, it's either just me or people get stupider by the day. It's gonna take a miracle to get this evidence thrown out."

"Another murder case?" Trevor asked, and Anna glared at him.

"Manslaughter. Prosecution can't prove outright murder, though they're trying. They actually tried to convince me that they had enough to go with murder one."

"Premeditated, or a cop killing?"

"Premeditated. The victim wasn't a cop, thank heaven. I hate taking on those cases."

"I think all of us do. The cops might be a pain sometimes, but I doubt there's any one of us that would rather see them dead." Trevor trailed off and after a second went on. "So you don't think they have enough to go for murder?"

"Oh, they can try to go for murder, but from what the police have shown it looks more like an accident than anything else," said Anna. "All depends on whether or not my client's willing to deal out. That, or a jury. I get the feeling this client of mine's going to be stubborn enough to take it to a trial."

"More courtroom work. Lovely," said Trevor dryly. Anna rolled her eyes at him, and sighed.

"Since you're not working anything at the moment," she said, "Have you been to Judge Ross' courtroom at all today?"  
"I have. Afternoon session, though. I don't know anything about what happened this morning."

"And here I was hoping I could count on you. What do you know?"

"That Holloway's this close to getting told off by Rubirosa in open court. It couldn't be more obvious that she can't stand him."

"And Monahan?"

"Smoke and mirrors. She keeps talking the way she is, she'll have that jury eating out of the palm of her hand."

"But the evidence…"  
"Prosecution's been treading lightly with that, honestly. I don't know why. They're probably holding back until it gets closed to the end."

"Damn." Anna looked away, shaking her head. "That doesn't sound good."

"No, it doesn't." Trevor glanced over at her and sighed. "I still say you're worrying too much about this."  
"I still say that I'm not going to listen to you if you keep telling me that. I'm starting to think that worrying about it is the only thing keeping me from being put in a rubber room."  
"I'm sure you're quite far from a rubber room, Anna. All you're going to do is make things worse."

"Things couldn't possibly get any worse than this. I'm dealing with the District Attorney's office on two fronts. It's bad enough dealing with them on one."

"If you leave now, I'm afraid I'll have to come after you. Things are…hard enough around here as it is right now."

"I'm well aware of that, thanks." Suddenly Anna was feeling irritable, and she knew it wouldn't end well if this conversation kept going the way it was going. "Is there a reason why you came in here, or did you just come around to make small talk?"

"Well, the real reason I came was to tell you what went on this afternoon, but since I've already done that, I'll go if you'd like me to," said Trevor, but Anna shook her head.

"Nah, I could use the company. Heaven only knows I've got too much on my mind as it is."

* * *

They hadn't found her, and it was getting frustrating. The trial had been two days going so far, and the way things were going, it definitely didn't look good.

"Her family's not cooperating," said Nina, pacing back and forth across the lieutenant's office, "We haven't seen any sign that she's back in the city. It might not even be her."

"But she's the only one you can see as a viable suspect, other than the one who's already on trial," said Anita, more of a question than the statement it sounded like.

"She's the only one who threatened either of the prosecutors, according to the file," said Ed. "McCoy and Abbie Carmichael both. And then, we found this."

He slid the file across the desk to her. "Tara Galinet's attorney in the case McCoy had against her was Kelly Monahan."  
"Isn't she the one representing him now?" Anita asked, looking over at the detectives with raised eyebrows. Nina nodded.

"She is," she said. "We're thinking we might have to go so far as to question her about Galinet's whereabouts, if anyone would know, she would, no?"  
"It's more than likely that she would; have you tried getting a hold of her yet?" Anita asked, but both detectives shook their heads.

"We haven't," said Ed, "But we're planning on it. We're waiting until she isn't tied up in court."

Anita looked at her watch. "Well, court should be adjourning for the day; it's almost five o'clock," she said. "Try and catch her at the courthouse."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hopefully, this will all turn out like I'm still hoping it will. In any case, another update. **

* * *

They caught her just as she was leaving the courthouse. Truth be told, she wasn't all that surprised to see them.

"If you've come to ask me about anything Jack might've told me, you know the drill, Detectives," she told them. "Attorney/client privilege."

"We don't have any questions about Jack," said Ed, "We have questions about you. We'd appreciate you coming down to the station with us, Ms. Monahan."

Kelly looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Might I ask what this is concerning, before you cart me off?" she asked.

"A case," said Nina, "Someone you defended a few years back. We need to ask you questions, but I highly doubt you're gonna want us to ask them here."

"You're right, I'm not," said Kelly dryly, "Should I consult legal counsel of my own or is this just routine questioning?"

"Just routine," said Ed, without looking Nina in the eye. "We just need to clear up a few things, and then you can go on your way."

"Well, then," said Kelly, reaching into her purse for her car keys, "I will meet you at the…"

"27th Precinct," said Nina, and Kelly nodded.

"I'll meet you at your precinct," she said, and walked off.

About an hour later found her at the two-seven. Ed and Nina were both waiting for her. They led her back into one of the interview rooms, and she sat.

"Do you remember Tara Galinet?" Ed asked, straight off, and Kelly looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Tara?" she said. "Of course I remember her. Why do you ask?"

"Because we have reason to believe that she might in fact be the real culprit in these murders," said Nina. "We haven't been able to find her."

The hidden accusation was too hard to miss. Kelly glared at the younger woman and shook her head. "If you're asking whether or not I'm hiding her, Detective, the answer is no," she said flatly. "I might remember her, but that doesn't mean that I still have anything to do with her."

"Of course not," said Ed, "But right now, you're our only lead, the only one who's most likely to know where she is."

"I suggest you ask her family, Detectives, heaven only knows they would know more than I do." said Kelly. "Though, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't cooperate with you."

"We've tried all of Galinet's family members that still live in the city," said Nina. "None of them will tell us anything. That leaves you. We'd like to believe that you aren't hiding anything, but if you don't cooperate with us, we're not going to have a choice."

"Just like you didn't have a choice to arrest Jack, right?" Kelly asked, unable to keep a sarcastic note out of her voice. "Listen, Detectives, I know you're doing your job, but I honestly don't know where Tara is. I haven't heard from her since that case."

"In which she was acquitted. If she doesn't end up as a victim, then it's likely that she's probably the one behind this." said Ed. "We're not trying to railroad McCoy, believe us. But this is the only chance we have at proving that it might be someone else behind these murders."  
"Why on earth would I have any knowledge about where she is?" Kelly asked, frustrated. "I told you, I haven't heard from her, Detectives. I would have been sure to contact you if I had; I know she threatened Jack and Abbie Carmichael; I was there."

"But you made no move to restrain your client or stop her from digging herself even furthering than she already had," said Nina. Kelly gave her a look.

"She'd lost her job, Detective, because of the accusations that had been brought on her, and on top of that, she'd been dragged by a trial; I can hardly blame the woman for being bitter, but it certainly never crossed my mind that she would actually act on it."

Silence. Both detectives exchanged glances. After a moment, Ed spoke again. "If you don't know for sure where she is, do you at least have some idea of where she might be?"

"Anywhere in the city," said Kelly. "She told me once that she'd never leave this place; it's where she grew up. If she ever did leave, it'd have been temporarily, and then she more than likely would have come back."  
"Do you believe that she could be behind these murders, and therefore behind the entire thing?" Nina asked. Kelly looked at her for a long moment, and finally nodded.

"Yes," she said, "As a matter of fact, I do."

* * *

They put out an APB. It was, at the moment, the only thing they could do in order to find her. The picture from the file was the one used; any cop in the city who saw her would be able to recognize her, unless she had changed her looks. Kelly Monahan had been given the go-ahead to leave, and she had.

"Let's just hope she doesn't decide to bring a lawsuit," Nina muttered as she sat across from her partner, "Last thing we need is more hassle than we've already got."

"I doubt she has grounds for a lawsuit, we weren't accusing her of anything." Ed replied. "Hopefully we'll actually be able to find something this time."

"Think it might come in time to stop the trial?" Nina asked, and he shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm really hoping it does, though. Monahan might be a fast talker, but the jury's not made up of idiots, no matter what we might think. Prosecution keeps going the way it is…likely they'll get a conviction."

"Just what the District Attorney's office needs, a black eye like this on top of all the rumors…heard Arthur Branch was thinking about leaving." Nina remarked. Ed looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"You did?" he said, and then, "I haven't heard anything like that. Rubirosa tell you?"

"Wasn't her. Heard it while I was over there, though. She and Holloway think that they might need to call us both within the next few days."

"You'd think they'd be able to do with only one of us." The coffee shop was quieter than the precinct, but Ed wasn't sure yet as to whether it was a relief or not. "We were both on the case."

"Case isn't over yet," Nina reminded him, looking out the window they were sitting nearby. "Look at this. It's pathetic. Any woman passing us right now could be her, and we probably wouldn't even know it."  
"I don't think she's going to be too keen to be seen once she figures out we've got an APB out on her," said Ed, shaking his head slowly, "If anything, it might just send her back into hiding."

"Either that or make her cocky enough to believe that we can't catch her," Nina remarked. "She's got to at least know what the advantages of hiding in plain sight are."

"Good thing she was never a cop; then we'd never find her." Ed trailed off for a moment and took a sip from the mug in front of him. "D'you think it'll do us any good?"

"What, the APB?" Nina asked, and nodded. "It should. Doubt it was what Monahan was going for when she told us Galinet might still be in the city, but there you have it. City this big, it's the only way we're gonna find her without the family cooperating."

"I still don't see why they wouldn't," said Ed. "I mean, I do, but at the same time I don't, y'know? They've gotta know that not handing her over is more likely to make it worse. Most cops I know have dealt with McCoy at one point or another. Doubt there's any one of us that wants to see him go down."

"Obviously," said Nina, and trailed off for a long moment before going on. "Assuming Galinet's really the one behind this, here's to hoping that she doesn't pull anything stupid."

"Not in front of a cop, anyway," said Ed, wryly. "I shouldn't say this, but I'm almost hoping she slips and gets arrested for something. Right now, APB's only out saying we need to talk to her in connection to a case."

"Think we should see about an arrest warrant?" Nina asked, but he shook his head.

"It'll come to that point," he said, "If we can find her. But for now…I think that'll only make her run."

* * *

The letter came in the mail. Anna probably wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been cleaning off her desk, trying to organize things, but she was, and it was the envelope that caught her eye as it, along with a number of other things fell. She gave an exasperated sigh and bent down to pick it up, nearly dropping it again as she recognized the handwriting.

"Anna?" The sound of a familiar voice made her sit up too quickly, and she narrowly missed hitting her head on the underside of her desk. Peering over the top of it, she sighed.

"Danielle," she said, tiredly, "Let me guess. Jack's dropped Kelly and moved on to you."

"Actually, no," said Danielle, looking amused by this, "But I won't say there's any shortage of lady attorneys willing to take this up for him."

"I wonder why," Anna said dryly, leaning back in her chair with the envelope in hand. "I get the feeling that you didn't just come around here to make small talk?"

"He does want to see you, you know," said Danielle, deciding to cut straight to the chase. Anna rolled her eyes.

"If he did, then he could damn well tell me that, instead of sending me letters that probably say things I don't want to know," she replied, waving the envelope in the air. "Don't tell me you've been reduced to playing messenger girl, Danielle."

"I haven't," said Danielle, biting back the desire to laugh at the expression. "The police think they might've found another suspect."

"Bit late for that, don't you think?" Anna asked sarcastically. "Maybe if they'd done their job properly in the first place…"

"I do believe this case has turned you into somewhat of a cynic," said Danielle. "What's eating at you?"  
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that I didn't wan to take another case, and I did anyway, to keep my mind off the one I was on before, but it's not working, and damn him, anyway, for jerking me around!"  
The words hung in the air. After a moment, Danielle came to sit down, shaking her head. "I had the feeling it was something like that."

"Don't start with me," Anna said, warningly. "I'm telling you right now, Danielle, I don't want to hear it."

"Of course you don't. You haven't wanted to hear it since you got divorced, but the fact remains, Anna, that sooner or later, you were going to fall for someone."

"Well, why the hell did it have to be him? Of all people, why the _hell_ did I have to fall for Jack McCoy? You wanna tell me that?"

More silence. Finally, Danielle shook her head. "I don't know if I can, honestly," she said, trying and failing to keep from sounding amused. "I can tell you that I'm not surprised."

"Of course you're not," Anna said, unable to take the sarcasm out of her voice, "Who would be? Suppose you could say the day someone _doesn't_ fall for him would be a damn miracle, no?"

This time, Danielle laughed. "Anna…I really don't know what to tell you," she started, but Anna rose to her feet, envelope still in hand, and started to pace, cutting her off.

"All this talk about conflict of interest, and not wanting it all to come down on me…I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd think he cared for a minute."

"But you're saying you do know better?"

"What the hell would he want with me, Danielle? Honestly, now, I don't want it sugarcoated."

She was starting to feel more like a go-between than she had before, but didn't want to break off any connection she had with everyone involved, and with this in mind, Danielle shrugged.

"I don't know, Anna," she said. "I'm not a mind-reader, nor do I claim to be. But I can tell you that I wouldn't be surprised if you came out to be the one that finally gets him to settled down."

Anna snorted, and glanced at the envelope as she continued to pace. "Jack McCoy, settling down," she said, shaking her head. "I should live to see the day."

* * *

"…I'm telling you, if he's not going to quit giving you the runaround about things, you need to drop him. It'll do you good."

"I can't just drop him like that, Becky, he's a good guy, I just…"

"Don't trust him?" Rebecca shifted her cell phone in her grip and sighed as she walked. "That's as good a reason as any to drop the guy. He's being an idiot, Tammy, he doesn't deserve you."

On the other side of the line, Tammy Cooper shook her head, and sighed. "I could at least give him one more chance, no?"  
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "If you really want to put yourself through it, then yeah, you can give him another chance, but I gotta tell you, Tam, if he lies to you one more time, you need to drop him. It can only lead to worse things if you get more serious."  
"You act like such a lawyer sometimes, always looking at both sides of things," said Tammy. "We should meet up sometime. Think you might be able to do that?"  
"I don't know…I'll have to check…"

The phone fell from Rebecca's hand as she was yanked backwards suddenly, and somehow survived. She froze, and there was a cold voice in her ear; a woman's voice, and then something behind held to her back.

"You scream, and I will shoot you," the voice said. There was a tiny prick, as if she'd been poked by a needle, and then everything went black.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I really have no idea where this little twist came from. It just hit me and I decided I'd try it, so there you have it. **

* * *

"We've got a problem," said Nina, when Ed came into the squad room from a midday coffee run the next day, and he gave her a startled look. 

"With the trial, one of the old cases, or one of the new cases?" he asked, slowly, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"None of the above," said Nina. "Call just came in from a girl named Tammy Cooper."

"Another murder?" Ed asked, half-tempted to turn and leave again, but he remained where he was, and Nina went on.

"No. Not another murder. According to Ms. Cooper, she was on the phone with McCoy's daughter when the conversation just cut off. Next thing she knows, someone's picked up the cell phone and told her that 'Rebecca can't come to the phone right now, she's busy', and then the line went dead."

"Was the voice male or female?" Ed asked at once, and Nina glanced down at the notes she'd written.

"Female. She didn't recognize it. That's what our problem is. Rebecca McCoy's missing, and it's likely someone related to this case that has her."

"Has anyone bothered to talk to her mother about this?" Ed asked, pulling his coat on again and following Nina out of the squad room. She shook her head.

"Missing Persons told Ms. Cooper when she called this morning that she had to have been missing for at least 24 hours before they could really do anything, so she called over here," she said. "If Monahan still can't see how serious this is getting even now, she's an idiot."

"I'm sure she's going to be able to see how serious this is," said Ed, "You tell the lieutenant about this?"

"Lieutenant's the one who told me," said Nina. "The call came before I got in. She said to take you and go talk to Ms. Cooper as soon as you came in, so that's where we're headed."

"We got an address, or are we going to meet her somewhere like a park or whatever?" Ed asked.

"Address," said Nina. "Lieutenant said she sounded pretty upset. Wouldn't be surprised if she gave Missing Persons an earful after the twenty-four hours thing."

"Almost everyone gives Missing Persons an earful. The only reason the twenty-four hours thing is there is to keep parents from freaking out when their kid's late getting home."

"Well, maybe it should go away. A lot of the times kids are late coming home, they don't come home at all."

"That's the point, Nina. If they've been gone that long, they've either run away or someone's taken them. That's when they're considered missing."

"Let's not argue semantics, we've got enough to worry about. Sooner or later, it's gonna get to McCoy, and then we'll be dealing with him, too."

* * *

The phone call came unexpectedly, in the middle of court. Luckily, her phone was on silent, so no one noticed it going off. The prosecution was questioning the current witness; Jack wasn't really paying attention to much of anything, and so Kelly pulled the phone from her pocket and flipped it open. There was a text message on the screen. 

_"We need to meet. Sometime today, if you can. I need to speak with you." _She glanced at the number. It had come from Tara Galinet's cell phone. Kelly felt her heart skip a beat and closed the phone. This was definitely _not _good.

"The defense has no questions for this witness, your honor," she said, when Holloway finally decided to leave well enough alone, convinced he wasn't going to get any further.

"The witness is dismissed," came Jamie's voice, and then, "Court is in recess until two o'clock this afternoon."

It was noon. This gave Kelly two hours to do what she needed to do. Jack was already being led off. She looked away, not wanting to watch, and flipped her phone open again as she left the courtroom.

_"I hope you know the police are looking for you. If you've done anything, I doubt I'll be able to help you, Tara. Where are you?"_

She sent the message and waited. Barely two minutes passed before a reply finally came, but it felt like it had been forever.

_"Coffee shop near the courthouse. I had the feeling you might be there today. You'll see me; I'm sitting near the window." _

Kelly looked at her watch. Two hours suddenly didn't seem like enough. She had the feeling that there was a lot more to this little meeting than she thought. Even so, she tucked the phone back into her pocket, pulled her coat on, and left.

Sure enough, Tara was sitting near the window, newly dark-haired, and with colored contacts in. Sliding into the empty place across from her. Kelly gave her an appraising look and spoke.

"What've you done?" she asked. "Let me warn you now, Tara, that if you lie to me, I won't be able to help you. Technically, I should be telling you to get another lawyer. This is a conflict of interest."

"It's only a conflict of interest if I've actually done something, and as far as you know, I haven't," said Tara flatly. "And for the record, it's Natalie Grant now. Be a dear and try not to slip, will you?"

"Your hair, your eyes, your name," said Kelly, sarcastically, "What changes next, _Natalie_? Your desire to ruin lives?"

"I was innocent of all those charges then, and I'm innocent now," said Tara, dismissively. "I've come to warn you of something."

"The only thing I need warning about is you, apparently. You disappear for six years, and all of a sudden, you expect me to take up as your lawyer again? If I didn't know better than to assume things, I would think you really had done something."

"The only way anything more is going to happen is if McCoy gets acquitted," said Tara, and Kelly stared at her.

"You're asking me to drop this case," she said, and when Tara looked at her with raised eyebrows, she shook her head. "Forget it. I'm not going to leave him out to dry."

"Rumor has it there are plenty of other lady lawyers perfectly willing to take up for him," said Tara, smirking at her. "Would I be right in assuming that there's more to this than there appears?"

"I divorced the guy, and I might've hated him before, but that doesn't mean I hate him now, Tara. What've you done?"

"That remains for me to know, and you to find out, if the police ever find me. However, I do have someone I'd like you to talk to." Tara had been dialing a number on her cell phone. Now she handed the phone to Kelly. It rang twice before it was picked up.

"Hello?"

The shaking voice on the other side was unmistakable. Kelly's face went pale. "Oh, my…Becky? Is that you?"

"Mom?" Suddenly the panic was more evident. "How did you…I don't…" A muffled sob came. The line went dead. Kelly stared at the woman across from her.

"Where the hell is my daughter, Tara?" she demanded. "What have you done to her?"

"That, too, is for me to know and you to find out." Suddenly Tara's voice turned icy. "You won't be able to reach her again. There's no way for her to recharge the phone. I deliberately left her the one that would die out on us."

"Damn it, Tara…" Kelly trailed off furious. "This is not a game! Do you hear me? _This is not a game!_ What are you trying to accomplish here?"

"I'm sure you're aware of that. You can't have sat here and not figured that out. I lost everything when I was dragged through a trial, and now it's his turn to lose everything."

"I swear on every case I've ever tried and won that if you hurt my child, you will regret it!"  
"Do keep your voice down," said Tara, still in the same icy tone as she rose to her feet. "You're playing this game by my rules now, since you've met him. If you don't drop the case, you will make sure he gets convicted. If you contact the police, they'll find a body floating in the river. Understand?"

Kelly nodded, mutely. Tara smirked and walked away. Within seconds, she'd vanished into the crowd outside.

* * *

"You what?"  
It was the last thing Anna had expected, and yet the first thing she'd wanted, since the beginning. Kelly stood in front of her now, still pale in the face, and her hands shaking as she spoke. 

"I need to drop this case," she said, almost inaudibly. "Anna, I…you don't…I wouldn't if I didn't have to, but…"

"But what?" Anna asked, deciding to take her chances. "Kelly, what happened? Did someone threaten you?"  
Kelly shook her head. "No," she said. "No, I haven't been threatened, I just…don't think I'd be the best…person to handle this right now."

"Have you spoken to Danielle at all?" Anna asked, slowly, and Kelly shook her head.

"I would have if Judge Ross had given us more time, but your office was closer, and…Anna, please, I know I was a complete bitch before, but I really need you to do this."

There was no mistaking the note of distress in the older woman's voice. No matter what Kelly said, there was definitely something that was being left out. Anna leaned back in her seat. "When are you due back in court?"

"By two," said Kelly, "Are you saying you'll take over for me?"

"You do realize that I haven't spoken to Jack since before the trial, don't you?" Anna asked, and Kelly nodded.

"I know. And I know he's probably going to tell me off when he sees me again, but Anna…you don't understand. If I keep on with this case and he doesn't get convicted…"

"Kelly, what aren't you telling me?" Anna asked, her voice no longer wary, but suspicious. "I've never seen you this nervous in all the time we've known each other."  
"It's nothing," Kelly muttered, without looking her in the eye. "Just…please…be there in the courtroom at two, all right?"

And then she was gone. Anna frowned after her and reached for the phone on her desk as it rang. "Hello?"

"Anna, have the police spoken to you at all yet?" Danielle asked in reply, by way of greeting.

"No, they haven't," said Anna, slowly, "Why d'you ask?"

"Because they got a call earlier today. Jack's daughter is missing. They're talking to anyone who's currently involved with this case."

"And they've talked to you."

"Yes, they've talked to me. I didn't know anything until they told me what was happening. They're looking for Kelly now."

"She just left my office."

"What was she doing there?"

Realization suddenly dawned on her. "Oh, no…Danielle…Kelly just asked me to take over the case again…d'you think she already knows?"

"I'm sure she does," said Danielle, "If she came to you to take over the case…she has to know something. When are you due in court?"

"I have to be there in half an hour; I'm leaving now," said Anna, rising to her feet and grabbing her coat. "Have you spoken to her at all?"  
"Not since this morning," said Danielle, "I'll meet you at the courthouse, all right?"  
"Sounds good," said Anna, even though it didn't. She grabbed her keys. "I'll see you there."

* * *

It was dark by the time Tara got back to where she'd left Rebecca. The girl was asleep, tearstains quite obvious on her face. Slamming the door woke her up. 

"You know, this entire place is open to you," Tara remarked. "Just don't try to leave. There are cameras. Front door's got a code on it. So does the back door. The only way to get out is through a window, but there's no fire escape."

"Who are you?" There was no denying that her voice was shaking and Rebecca hated it. Tara noticed this and smirked.

"I'm no one you need to worry about for now," she said. "The only thing that matters for the moment is that your dear mother knows you're all right, but believe me when I say that it won't be that way for long if you cross me."  
"Why are you doing this?"  
"For reasons you don't need to worry your pretty little head with," said Tara. "Believe it or not, I've been watching you, and I've been watching the police, and none of you have ever noticed me."  
"You won't get away with this."

"Spoken with such conviction. You truly are your father's daughter."

There was silence. Rebecca was unsure of whether or not to answer this, and Tara knew it, so she smirked.

"He ruined my life before, once, you know," she said, slowly. "Now the tables have turned. Shall we see how he likes it?"


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I've finally figured something out: the one that comes after this is going to deal with all the fallout from what goes on here. Not this chapter, specifically, but the story in general. In any case, yet another update, since I have the time. **

* * *

Another citywide search was launched when nothing had turned up two days later. This time, however, they weren't looking for a so-called fugitive, but an innocent victim.

"First he's sitting in court getting nailed for four murders, and now his kid goes missing," said Nina, shaking her head. "No way in hell he'd have anything to do with that. Prosecution's got to know that."

"Last I heard from Rubirosa, Monahan dropped the case. Flynn took over again. I don't see how she's going to get him out of this if he ain't talking to her," said Ed. "It's definitely Galinet."

"Now if only we could find her," said Nina. "If we'd just caught onto this earlier, none of this would even be happening."

"Can't go blaming ourselves for everything; it's not exactly our fault she's a basket case," said Ed mildly, "We'll find her, and when we do, we'll find Rebecca McCoy."

"Not necessarily. She could hold her over our heads to get a deal. And knowing that idiot Holloway, he won't think twice before giving her one."

"If he wants to deal with a pissed off McCoy when this is over," said Ed. "Prison or not, Holloway's not gonna want to know what happens if we find Galinet and he lets her off with a deal."

"He's not gonna want to know what happens to him if we get a hold of him, either. This woman's taken the cake, I swear," said Nina, shaking her head. "Sooner or later, something's got to turn up."

"You think Monahan might have something to do with the disappearance?" Ed asked, after a short moment of silence. Nina gave her partner a startled look.

"Come off it," she said. "D'you really think she'd put her kid through this sort of thing just to get back at her ex-husband? Nothing we've seen thus far proves that she was only in this to get back at him."

"And I suppose the fact that she drops the case the day her daughter goes missing is a coincidence, right?"

"I'm thinking she might have been threatened."

More silence. Ed gave Nina a sideways glance and then nodded slowly. "That's always a possibility," he said. "Think we should go and talk to her?"

"I say we do," said Nina, and rose to her feet "It's probably the only way we're gonna get any sort of answers out of her, now that we've got this."

"Push her over the edge and she's likely not to talk," said Ed, "Do we know where she lives?"  
"She's probably not in the courtroom. We should try her office, and if she's not there, we can probably get the address and go from there." Nina threw him the keys. "You drive."

* * *

Court was certainly starting to get interesting. First it had been Anna, then it had been Kelly, and now it was Anna again, and Kelly was nowhere in sight. Connie had looked through the entire courtroom at least three times. There was no sign of the other attorney. Danielle Melnick was there, however, as usual, and so was Trevor Langan. Both of them had been there with Anna since the trial had begun.

"How long have you known the defendant, Ms. Carmichael?"

Holloway had a lot of nerve calling up former assistants to testify in this trial, character witnesses or not. Connie had met all of them. Judge Ross was one of them, and she'd met Abbie Carmichael and Serena Southerlyn near the beginning of the trial. The only two she hadn't met were Alexandra Borgia and Claire Kincaid, both of whom had passed away.

"Eight years," Abbie replied now, dryly. "I'm sure you're aware of the fact that I once worked in the District Attorney's office."

"How would you describe him?"

"A hard worker. One who wants to see justice done, within the boundaries of the line. Never struck me as the sort to actually act on anything we ever talked about, if that's what you're getting at."

"You are aware of the evidence the police have found."

"I am. But I can also remind you, counselor, that evidence can be planted, as I'm sure you're aware of."

Abbie's sarcasm was not at all lost on Connie, who bit back the desire to laugh as Holloway went on. "You never once heard him say anything about wishing…certain things on those involved in cases that had been acquitted?"  
"If I had, I'd have said something before now," said Abbie mildly. "I know what it's like to be frustrated about your cases. It's not always so easy sitting on the prosecutor's side of the aisle."

Holloway paused for a moment to consider this, and then shook his head. "The prosecution has no more questions for this witness, your honor."

"Fine," said Jamie. "Your witness, Ms. Flynn."

Anna looked up, a fleeting startled expression crossing her face, but it disappeared as soon as it had come and she rose to her feet.

"Prosecutors are often threatened, are they not, Ms. Carmichael?" she asked. Abbie eyed her for a moment, and then nodded.

"I'd say it happens a lot more often than people think it does, but then, defense attorneys get the same thing."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," said Anna, catching Danielle's eye for a moment as she paced and looking away. "How many times would you say you and Mr. McCoy had been threatened with retribution because of a conviction?"  
"More than I can count," said Abbie, wryly. "Used to think I'd be able to count the times it happened on one hand, but turned out it wasn't that way."  
"And you were both threatened whether it came back with a conviction or not?"  
"We were. There were more than a few occasions. He and I never really ever took it seriously."  
"You never considered the possibility that it would actually be acted on? That someone else could be responsible for this?"

"Of course I've considered the possibility that someone else could be responsible for this. Like I said, I never really thought of Jack as one to actually act on anything. Prosecutors aren't perfect, Ms. Flynn, no matter what people would like to think. We're likely to make comments every now and then. We're not likely to act on them."  
"For the record, Ms. Carmichael, hypothetically speaking, if I were to ask you if you believed that Mr. McCoy was innocent, what would your answer be?"

Objection!" Holloway's voice came, as Anna had known it would. "Your honor, this has nothing to do with the proceedings as they are."

"Of course it does; the rest of the city might have condemned him, your honor, but the fact remains that he's innocent until he's proven guilty. Ms. Carmichael is certainly entitled to her own opinions," said Anna. Silence. They waited for an answer.

"Overruled," Jamie said finally. "Answer the question, Ms. Carmichael."  
"My answer would be, Ms. Flynn, that I believe he is innocent," said Abbie, flatly. "I highly doubt there's any other possibility."

* * *

They knocked on the door. No answer came at first, and so they knocked again, and finally, a voice came from the other side.

"I know why you're here, Detectives, and I can't talk to you."

Ed and Nina exchanged glances. If anything, Kelly sounded like a wreck, and both of them knew it.

"Ms. Monahan, your daughter is missing," said Nina, finally. "If you don't help us, then who will?"

"You're the police, you figure it out. Just please…go away…" Kelly trailed off, and there was the sound of a muffled sob before she went on. "No, they're not…they're leaving…"

"Is someone in there with you?" Ed asked, loudly, and there was the sound of something falling to the floor.

"No," said Kelly, "No, there's nobody here…I can't talk to you. Just please, leave before you make things worse!"  
"How in the hell are we gonna make things worse?" Nina asked in an undertone, but Ed shook his head.

"Ms. Monahan, if you don't talk to us now, we're gonna come back with a warrant to get into your apartment," he said. "You wanna do this the easy way or the hard way?"  
The door opened. Kelly looked disheveled, pale-faced and hair in her eyes. "What do you want?" she asked. "I can't help you, Detectives, I don't know anything."

"You've got to know something," Nina said incredulously. "You've got a reputation as one of the best trial lawyers in this city, and all of a sudden, you hand over what's got to be one of your biggest cases?"  
"It didn't seem right for me to be defending Jack; I'm his ex-wife, for heaven's sake!" There was a note of desperation that neither detective missed. "If I knew anything, believe me, I would tell you, but I know nothing!"

The phone shook in her hands. Tara had hung up right before she'd answered the door, but before that…the sound of sobbing had been hard to miss. And it hadn't been Tara.

"Has someone been threatening you?" Nina asked, bluntly, and Kelly shook her head, quickly.

"No," she said. "No, I haven't been threatened, I just didn't feel it was right for me to run the case. So I dropped it. Is that so hard for you to believe?"

"It does look suspicious that you drop it the day after your daughter's reported missing by one of her best friends," Ed pointed out. "If someone's putting you up to dropping the case, you're going to have to tell us."

"There's nothing!" Kelly exclaimed. "What don't you get? For the love of heaven, Detectives, don't you think I want my child home safe as much as you do, if not more? If I knew something, I would tell you!"  
Both detectives exchanged glances again. Something was definitely off here, but neither of them could place it.

"Ms. Flynn, have you had any contact whatsoever with Tara Galinet since we spoke?" Nina asked, and Kelly shook her head.

"No," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "No, I haven't had any contact with her. Now I'd like you to leave."

She had spoken with them. They didn't have much of a choice. They left and she closed the door behind them.

"Something's not right," said Nina, looking back towards the apartment. "She looked like hell."

"Someone's holding something over her," said Ed. "If it's not Galinet, it's got to be someone who's taken up with her. That's the only thing that'd get Monahan that rattled."

"So we're definitely thinking Galinet's behind the kidnapping now?"

"You read the threats on file. She said she was gonna make McCoy's life a living hell. What better route than potentially ruining his law career and hurting his kid?"  
He had a point. Nina shook her head as they left the apartment building, and reached for the keys in her pocket.

"So the way to break Monahan is to find Galinet, who might not give us Rebecca McCoy, forcing us to continue the search, and before we know it, we'll find a body floating in the river."

"You better not repeat that theory in front of the lieutenant. This is already enough of a press case as it is. You see what the papers have been saying?"  
"No. What crackpot theories have they come up with this time?"

"They're spouting the theory that this might be a setup. That Rebecca might just be safe and sound somewhere out of the city, and she's just trying to take the focus off her father and bring it to her."

'That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard so far. Why would she want to do that? She's been here every step of the way, hasn't she?"

"My point exactly. She wouldn't just take off. The papers are trying to make it sound like more than it is. Prosecution gets a hold of it, they're going to try and use it."

"It's more than likely that they've already gotten a hold of it, or at least, that Holloway's got a hold of it. We should head to the District Attorney's office, give Rubirosa the heads up."  
"I think you just read my mind."

* * *

"You're going to have to talk to her sooner or later, you know," Danielle remarked, as she entered the all-too-familiar interview room.

"I'm not going to have this conversation with you, Danielle. The business day is over. Don't you have a life outside the courtrooms?" Jack asked in reply.

"This isn't a courtroom. It's a prison interview room. You've got all kinds of lawyers, don't you?"

"Is that the excuse you fed the guards? That you're my lawyer? They must be getting sick of hearing that, for everyone that's been around here. You, Anna, Connie, Kelly…hell, even Erin's been here."

The mention of Erin Fallon made Danielle smirk. "That's funny, I could've sworn she said she wanted to see you rot in hell, or was that just me?"  
"She might've sent Alyssa after me, her and Kelly both, but that doesn't necessarily mean she meant it. Besides, I told her the same thing, and she's still alive, isn't she?"

Danielle laughed. "Good to see you still have a sense of humor somewhere in there, even if it is a bit dark," she said, and then, "Prosecution is going to think it's strange if they catch on that you're not talking to your own attorney."

"Connie's already caught on; she came in here and tore me a new one for it. Told me I was being an idiot, first changing legal counsel in the middle of all this, and now refusing to talk to the current," Jack replied dryly. "I have more than enough to worry about as it is."

Suddenly Danielle started to rethink one of the reasons why she'd come. It was beginning to seem obvious that no one had yet told him of his daughter's disappearance.

"Jack," she said finally, "About that…the police haven't been by to speak to you, have they?"

"Don't tell me they're trying to pin another murder on me," Jack said at once. "I've been stuck in here for heaven only knows how long, I've lost count."

"It's been about four months since this whole thing began," said Danielle, almost grateful that he'd inadvertently changed the subject. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Leave it to you to keep track of that sort of thing, Danielle, honestly," he said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were taking some sort of pleasure out of all this."

"I'll take some sort of pleasure out of all this when Holloway gets his ass kicked, if you'll pardon my choice of words," Danielle replied flatly. "I know you sent her that letter she was holding onto the other day when I was talking to her; I don't know if she's read it, but damn it, Jack, the least you could do is look her in the eye, even if you're not going to speak to her."

"Why would I do that?" he asked, mock-seriously. "Then she'd assume that I'd like to speak to her, when in reality, I would like nothing more than for her to drop this and leave me to my own devices."

"Why? Are you that afraid you're going to hurt her through all of this?"

"I've already hurt her, damn it!" The exclamation didn't bother Danielle at all; she waited, and Jack went on.

"That night, that one night that started all of this, I swear on every courtroom in this city, Danielle, if it hadn't been for me, people wouldn't be labeling her, and she probably doesn't even know she's been labeled."

"I haven't heard anything," Danielle said slowly, "At least, not in my office. I don't know about hers, or Kelly's, or even the one Judge Ross was working for before she was tapped for the bench…who's been talking?"  
"My office," he said dryly. "Someone must have seen us that night, even though we went all the way out to the Bronx, but we came into Manhattan, and I don't…Part of me wishes I'd just ended it there and convinced her it didn't mean anything, but no…"  
"If you had convinced her it didn't mean anything, then whatever label people are giving her now might actually be true," Danielle pointed out. "What are they saying?"  
"They're calling her another conquest of mine. Another notch on my damn bedpost, and damn it, that's not what she is!"  
"I never said it was. But is this why you were claiming a conflict of interest earlier on?"

"I don't know. Technically, I had no grounds to claim conflict of interest; I don't know if she feels the same way I do, and you already know what happened with Diana, I wasn't going to go through that again."

"You honestly think that Anna would lie like that just to get you out of this mess?"  
"No. I don't. But….I don't know what she'd do, and it scares me. She's so…"

"What? Stubborn? Good for her, heaven only knows you have to be stubborn to deal with a guy like you, Jack, honestly. She's a good lawyer."

"I know she is. And I don't want her ruined because of me. Heaven only knows I've got enough of a reputation, and she doesn't, and I don't want people going around saying that she's…something she isn't."

"A woman of ill-repute, we'll say, since neither of us want to use the other words," said Danielle. Jack gave her a look.

"This isn't funny. She doesn't deserve that."

"So you do care about her."

"Yes, I care about her. I wouldn't have tried to get a hold of her a million times over after that kiss if I didn't care. I…wanted to know if it was something I'd done to make her run, and she told me it wasn't, but…"  
"You aren't sure."

"Are you sure you've never been through the police academy? I could swear this feels like an interrogation."

"First Anna, and now you. I swear, the two of you must be able to read each other's minds."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked, finally stopping in his tracks and looking at her. Danielle shrugged.

"I'll let her tell you. It's not my place."

* * *

"Your mother's a smart woman."

There was that voice again. Rebecca still didn't know who her captor was, but she wasn't about to ask, either. Tara came to sit in one of the empty chairs in the room, and shook her head.

"Don't you want to know what I mean?" she asked, but Rebecca shook her head in reply.

"I know my mother's a smart woman, you don't have to tell me that," she said, still unable to keep her voice from shaking somewhat. Tara rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well, she's awfully skilled at lying to the police, I'll tell you that," she said. "Told them she didn't know anything about your disappearance. Or who had you."

A sinking feeling settled in Rebecca's stomach. "This isn't just about my father anymore, is it?"  
"Oh, it was never just about him," said Tara, examining her fingernails. "Well, actually, that's not entirely true. It was about him at first, but now, I've decided that it's much more than that."  
"My family's already broken," said Rebecca dryly, "There's not much more you can do."

"Oh, but you'd be surprised," said Tara. "You see, once your father finds out that you're missing, things are going to get…interesting, to say the least."

Rebecca gave her a wary look. "She's his attorney," she said. "You can't…you can't do this."

"I can, and I have," said Tara, giving the younger woman a look. "You have no right to tell me at this point what I can do and what I can't do. You're not the one in control here. Remember that."  
Suddenly Rebecca felt cold. She remembered the events of that morning all too well. "You aren't going to bring him back, are you?" she asked, slowly, hesitantly, the note of fear in her voice too obvious to be missed. Tara laughed, and she jumped.

"I will if you try to walk out of here again," she said, bluntly. "I've already set your father up for murder, don't think you can put anything past me just yet. I intend to have my way in this matter."  
Rebecca eyed her carefully. _Definitely a basket case_, she thought. There was no denying that. Not after the morning. She tucked her knees up to her chest as she sat, and closed her eyes, not wanting to think of what had happened, what her mother had been forced to listen to.

By the time Tara left her sitting there, she was in tears again.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Ok. I think things are going to start winding down...finally. **

* * *

The envelope still hadn't been opened. Anna eyed it warily as she sat at her desk, and wanted to open it, but wasn't sure that she should. The confession she had made to Danielle a few days before still echoed in her head. She wanted it to go away, but she knew that it wouldn't, because it was true…She'd fallen for him, and hard, and now she had a letter in front of her that would either make her feel better or make everything worse.

She opened it. Suddenly the temptation of knowing what was inside had become too hard to resist. A bracelet came out, and she recognized it as the one she thought she'd lost the night she'd run away.

"Talk about a Cinderella story," she muttered, to herself, since no one else was there. It was Sunday and the office was like her refuge now. The reporters had finally gotten a hold of her address on the island. Along with the bracelet, however, a slip of paper had come. Anna reached for it, and read.

"I've been a jerk, and I'm sorry. I'd like to see you, whenever you're willing." No signature, not that she really needed one. She shook her head. "Nice, Jack."

There was silence when she finished talking. Glancing at the clock, Anna bit her lip for a moment, to the point where she drew blood. The office door opened.

"Anna," said Danielle's voice, "We have a problem."  
Anna gave her a startled look. "What problem?" she said, anxiously. "Jack's all right, isn't he?"

"That depends on your definition of all right," said Danielle, calmly, "I think you need to come with me."  
Anna grabbed her coat at once, and they left.

* * *

When they got to the prison, they were taken to the interview room right off. Kelly was already there, on the other side of the room in tears. Jack, on the other hand, looked furious.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, of Danielle. "You knew, you were here…why the hell didn't you say anything?"  
"Because she knew this would happen!" Kelly yelled at him, wiping furiously at her eyes. "You think I wanted this to happen?"  
"Apparently I don't know what you want! If I find out you had _anything_ to do with this, so help me, Kelly, you'll regret it!"

"You son of a…" Kelly trailed off, incensed. "How dare you threaten me! If I'd known it would go this far….you're the one to blame for this!"  
Danielle whistled loudly, startling everyone present. "Enough!" she said, firmly, "No one is to blame here! For heaven's sake, we're all lawyers here, I'm sure we can find a way to figure this all out, and keep it civilized!"

Jack snorted. "I doubt it," he said flatly. "This is what happens, either side of the aisle, people don't like one thing or the other, so they take it out on people who have nothing to do with anything!"  
"Don't you think I'd have told the police if I knew anything?" Kelly demanded, rounding on him at once. "Forgive me for thinking you deserved to know!"

"Forget it. This is the last straw, Kelly, to think that you would sit here and do nothing…"  
"Oh, like _hell_ I've done nothing, you're the one stuck in this place, not me!"  
"Damn it, Kelly, I swear if this is one of your clients out on parole and looking for some kind of vengeance…!"

"All right, that's it!" Anna yelled finally, to make herself heard before Kelly could retort. "You, out. Danielle, go with her. I will stay in here. Move, now."  
The three older lawyers stared at her; she stared back. After a moment, they did as she'd told them. The sound of the door closing echoed behind Kelly and Danielle, and then there was silence.

"She knows something," said Jack, glowering at the door. "I don't know it for sure, but something isn't right here."  
"Well, of course something isn't right, but for heaven's sake, Jack…"  
"Don't lecture me. I don't want to hear it, all right? I have enough to deal with it as it is. I can't do a damn thing about my daughter being missing, because I'm stuck in this place, and I shouldn't even be here!"  
"I know you shouldn't be. Why the hell do you think I'm here?" Anna trailed off, and ran a frustrated hand over her face before going on. "What exactly did Kelly tell you?"  
"That our daughter's missing," Jack told her, sarcastically. "That she 'doesn't know anything', but the police are working on it. And that it'd probably be in everyone's best interest if I quit being stubborn and took what the prosecution's still offering."

"They're still offering?" Anna asked, startled. "I'd have thought Holloway would've pulled out when you first refused."

"Apparently, Connie's got more of a handle on this trial than she's letting on. She won't let him drop the offer. I'd love to know how the hell Kelly thinks it'd be in everyone's best interest, if she doesn't know anything."

"I think she's just upset, and that she doesn't want to have to deal with this trial on top of everything else," Anna started, but Jack cut her off.

"She's already pawned this off on you," he said. "You shouldn't have to deal with it either. This is my problem."

"Well, I haven't seen you jumping at the chance to defend yourself. Is there something you aren't telling me, or am I reading too far between the lines?"

The remark brought a faint smile to his face. "I don't know if I'd do as good of a job," he admitted finally. "I should say I'd be a lot better at prosecuting myself."

Anna shook her head. "Even the best prosecutors know how to defend themselves," she said mildly. "I'm surprised the guards didn't come in here, with all the shouting."  
"Suppose they're used to it between other inmates and their own lawyers," said Jack, and shook his head. "Never thought I'd refer to myself that way."

"You shouldn't," Anna told him. "I might not be one of those that thrives under pressure, but I promise you, sooner or later, something's going to come up, and this will all be over."

"I don't know what I was thinking, letting Kelly get involved in this in the first place, but no…suppose you want to call me an idiot now, no?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't." Anna trailed off for a moment and sighed. "I know this isn't easy for you, and I doubt it's easy for any of us that happen to be involved, either, but something's going to come up."

"You know, Anna…once upon a time, I'd have been inclined to believe you."

* * *

The calls had been coming in all day, but there had been no solid leads until now. They stood in an abandoned lot on Staten Island, watching as CSU worked. Blood had been found, and a book that had a familiar name inside. There was blood on the cover.

"This doesn't look good," Nina said quietly, and then, "I heard from Rubirosa. McCoy knows his daughter's missing."

Ed swore softly under his breath. "Damn," he said, and shook his head. "We're gonna have to keep this under wraps if we don't want any more issues. We heard anything from the defense?"

"Flynn's trying to get a continuance," Nina replied. "For at least a few days. Wants to give him time to deal with it."

"I doubt any father's gonna take just a few days to deal with the fact that his kid is missing," Ed pointed out. "I'm not even a father, and I know that."

"You might be one day," said Nina, and motioned to the scene in front of them. "What would you be feeling if this was your kid?"

"Sure as hell wouldn't just be sitting there," said Ed, and then, "You know, there's no way the prosecution can run with the theories that the papers have been spouting."

"Sure they can," said Nina. "Holloway's probably going to try it and have one of three things happen."

"What three things?"

"Either Rubirosa's going to kick his ass, Branch is going to fire him, or Flynn's going to rip him a new one."  
"Well, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see what this is all about then," said Ed, and then, "I doubt it's just about McCoy anymore."  
"Why wouldn't it be just about him?" Nina asked, giving her partner a startled look, and he sighed.

"Because if this really is Galinet, then she'd have gotten what she wanted just by planting enough for the prosecution to be able to nail McCoy, that's why," he said. "Kidnapping his daughter? That's overkill, if you ask me. I have the feeling that she might be holding the disappearance over Monahan's head."

"Could be why Monahan's not talking?"  
"I'd say it is. If she thinks Galinet's capable of hurting her kid, then she wouldn't want to say anything else to us."

"But that would mean she's lied to us and had spoken to Galinet, or was speaking to Galinet when we came around." Nina pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her pocket; Ed watched for a moment and shook his head.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "Now's not the time for a word search, Cassady. We've got more important things to worry about."  
"It's not a word search. I've been fooling around with letters, though," said Nina, without looking up at him. "Galinet was an English teacher before the trial, right?"

"Right," said Ed, slowly, "Where are you going with this?"  
"I have the feeling," said Nina, as she continued working, "That she'd have changed her name to something that would use all the letters of her name, so she could stay true to herself, somewhat, no matter what else changes. Haven't I already told you this?"

"If you have, I don't remember hearing it," said Ed, "What do you think you're going to get by screwing around with letters?"

"A name," said Nina, and finally looked up, holding the sheet of paper out to him. "Look here."  
And he did, and there was a name, plain as day, circled, between everything else Nina had tried to work out. A name that was familiar, since they'd spoken to the one who held it earlier on. He looked up at Nina, and shook his head as he spoke.

"Natalie Grant."

* * *

They stormed the brownstone. Rubirosa had the warrant to them in record time, and they went in, kicking doors and looking everywhere they could think of.

"Nothing," Nina said, a frustrated sigh escaping her when she came up from the basement to meet Ed and the other detectives on the main floor. "Absolutely nothing."  
"She's gotta be coming back here," said Ed, as the other detectives dispersed to look again. "Clothes and shoes in the closet. It doesn't look like anything's been taken."  
"A chance she'll come back within the next few days?" Nina asked, and he shrugged.

"Could be," he said. "The APB would have let her know that we were onto her; it was under her real name. Could be why she took Rebecca in the first place."

"Leverage," said Nina, and then, "She wanted McCoy convicted, but Kelly Monahan took the case, and she freaked out because she knows Monahan was likely to get him acquitted."

"So she takes Rebecca, holds it over Monahan's head, tells her to either railroad him or drop the case," said Ed, slowly, and Nina nodded.

"So Monahan does, and lets Flynn take over again, and lies to us when we go to question her," she said. "Maybe we should go after her, and threaten to charge her with obstruction of justice and hindering prosecution?"

"Don't know if we'll get the hindering prosecution, but obstruction of justice, definitely. Maybe accessory."

"To what, murder or kidnapping?"  
"Both. Even if Rubirosa can't actually make the charges, it could possibly scare her into giving up Galinet."  
"And if it doesn't? Galinet had to have threatened her with something to make her lie to us; Monahan's never had lying to the cops as part of her reputation from what I've heard."

"No, she hasn't. But the blood and Rebecca's book on the island, that had to have been a warning."  
"All right…" Nina trailed off for a moment, and then went on, slowly. "So, one of us waits here with someone else, for Galinet to come back, and the other goes after Monahan?"

"That could work," Ed said, and paused for a moment. "Actually, I think it would work better if we did both. We can nail Monahan right now, and come back to wait for Galinet."

"And if she comes back and leaves again while we're gone?" Nina asked, eyeing him skeptically.

"That's why we leave a couple of uniforms sitting on the place. They'll be able to get a hold of us if she comes."  
"Plainclothes. It'll look too suspicious if we leave a squad car sitting outside the place. She'll know. She'll ditch before they even have the chance to see her, and then we'll be screwed. She'll think Monahan gave it all up."  
"Monahan's going to give it all up whether she likes it or not."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I know this is short, but I have another chapter or so to go, so...yeah. **

* * *

She hadn't cried this hard in years. It was just something that she'd trained herself not to do, and now she was doing it, and it felt awful, but at the same time, it was a relief. She still had some sort of emotions left inside of her. She'd lost track of how long this mysterious figure had had her, but she didn't want to count anymore.

Pulling the covers around herself, Rebecca watched, through watery eyes, as her so-called companion got up, and smirked at her.

"Would've thought you'd learned better than to try and leave," he said. She ducked her head, hiding her face in the covers. A muffled sob escaped her and he laughed.

"Better not try it again," he said. "It'll only be worse for you."

She ignored him and kept her face hidden until he was gone. Only then did she allow herself to look up. The room was completely empty except for a bed, a clock, and a bookshelf. The mysterious woman who'd taken her had left quite a number of books, for her to keep herself occupied. Rebecca bit back the desire to snort. It couldn't have been more obvious that whoever this woman was, she'd been following her for a while.

"Hope he didn't hurt you too badly," said a voice, and Rebecca instinctively pulled the covers close around her still-shivering form. Her clothes lay in a heap on the floor, having been forcibly removed from her.

"You're sick," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "What, do you get off watching stuff like that?"  
"Who said I watched?" Tara stepped fully into the room, and closed the door behind her. "I told you that you wouldn't like the consequences if you tried to run again."  
"You promised I wouldn't ever see that sick bastard again; you lied to me."  
"What's to say I didn't have my fingers crossed when I told you that?" Tara asked, coldly. "You'd best learn to do as I tell you, otherwise worse things than that will happen to you."

"I doubt anything could be worse than that," Rebecca mumbled, staring down at the covers. Her hands had somehow clenched into fists. "The police are going to find you."  
"Ah, you still believe that someone's going to come and rescue you," said Tara, shaking her head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. See…they have no idea where to find us. No leads, no anything. I'm nothing if not someone who keeps up with the news."

"Maybe they haven't released it to the media yet," Rebecca shot back, unable to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Maybe they don't want you to know that they're onto you."

"I suggest," said Tara, "That you don't speak of things which you know nothing about. Your parents…well, let's just say they're getting everything you deserved. Both of them."

"So you want to ruin all our lives, is that it?" Rebecca demanded, her voice higher than normal. "You want my dad to rot in prison, you want my mom to have to deal with it, and you want me…"

"I want you to serve as leverage, and let's face it, honey, that's all you really are to me," Tara said, cutting her off. "I have your parents where I want them. Your father on trial, your mother a hysteric mess, and you…well, I'm sure that's obvious."

* * *

"Either you give us what we're looking for, or you're going to jail. It's as easy as that!"

Nina was quickly starting to lose her patience, and for once, so was Ed. Kelly Monahan sat opposite them, focusing on a point above their heads, a stubborn expression on her face.

"I don't know anything," she insisted. "I haven't talked to Galinet. All I want is my child home, and neither one of you are doing a damn thing about it!"

"We'd be doing more if we knew what you know, and we know that you know something," said Ed, considerably more calmly than her partner. "It's the only reason why you would have been giving us the runaround, and now we want the truth out of you. Has someone been threatening you?"

"No."

Nina gave a frustrated sigh, and looked at her partner. When he nodded, she slammed down the manila folder she was holding. The results had been fast-tracked through the crime lab, because of the nature of the case. Now, they sat in front of Kelly. Nina opened it.

"You see this?" she demanded. "Blood. Your daughter's blood, and one of the books she had on her when she went missing."  
The color drained from Kelly's face as she stared at the photos before her. "No," she said, finally, shaking her head. "No, you're lying. This isn't…it can't be Becky's. Millions of people have this book, it's just a coincidence!"  
Ed moved the photos around. The next ones showed more of the scene, and the inside of the book. There was no denying it now. Kelly looked away. "I don't want to see it."

"You're going to have to see it," he told her. "The only way we're going to get your daughter back is if you tell us what's been going on that we don't know about. Otherwise, next time, it ain't gonna be a book we're finding."

"I can't." Kelly had gripped the table, so hard that her knuckles were turning white. "It's already bad enough that Jack thinks I'm doing nothing about this; if she turns up dead…"

"You've spoken to him?" Nina asked, and Kelly nodded, hesitantly.

"No one bothered to tell him that she was gone," she said, almost inaudibly. "I didn't think it was right that he was being left in the dark, so I went and told him, and…"

"And he's upset with you," said Ed, finishing where she left off. "It's understandable. But he ain't the only one that's gonna be upset if this goes the wrong way."

"It already has," said Kelly, helplessly. "I didn't expect her to come back, hell, I didn't even think it would be her, and then she sends me a damn text message in the middle of court…"

The detectives exchanged glances, and Nina spoke. "Who?" she asked, slowly, "Galinet?"  
Kelly nodded, finally broken, and wiped at her eyes. "She's the one behind it," she said. "Behind it all."

"Wait a minute," said Ed, "Should you really be telling us any of this without her permission?"  
"I wasn't acting as her lawyer when I spoke to her. I told her I wouldn't be able to help her if she'd done anything, and then she springs all of this on me, that…" Kelly shook her head, and hid her face in her hands. "I don't know where to find her. I swear, I don't know where to find her, but she…"

"Took your daughter, and told you that you wouldn't like what happened if you didn't cooperate with her." said Nina.

"I had to drop the case." There was definitely no missing the desperate note in Kelly's voice at this point. "She wanted me to screw it up, so Jack would get convicted, but I couldn't do it, so I handed it back to Flynn, and if she doesn't, and this thing ends before you find Tara…"  
"Then this isn't going to end well," said Ed, and looked over at Nina. "Someone's gotta let Flynn know about this."

"If she hasn't already heard about it," said Nina, and then, to Kelly, "Have you told anyone else about this?"

Kelly shook her head. "I couldn't take the chance," she said, once more in that inaudible voice. "She called the day you showed up…I don't know what she was doing, but…" She looked at both detectives then, the expression on her face between desperation and misery. "You have to find her."


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Short, I know, but it's almost finished! Another chapter, or maybe two. Not sure yet. But it'll all be over soon, and I can move on to the next one. **

* * *

"The people rest, your honor," said Holloway, and it was all that Anna could do to keep from making a remark about this. Jack hadn't really been paying attention to much of anything, not that she could blame him. She had rested her case the day before, and now…now it was all up to the jury.

"Closing arguments will be heard tomorrow morning at nine o'clock," said Jamie, "Court is adjourned."

People started moving. Jack looked at Anna for a moment, and sighed before speaking. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see now," he said.

"It was all a matter of waiting and seeing," she said, reaching for his hand, and squeezing gently. "Keep your fingers crossed."

He gave her an amused look as he was led off seconds later. "I will if you will," he said. She nodded, and turned away. He watched the back of her head until he could see her no more, wondering why it no longer bothered him that she wouldn't look at him as he left the courtroom. He supposed it was because she didn't want to watch, and couldn't really blame her.

"The two of you are made for each other, I swear," said Danielle, walking over to Anna as she got ready to leave. "When this is all over and done with…"  
"I don't know, Danielle," said Anna, sounding about as tired as she knew she must have looked. "I really hope it goes somewhere, but at the same time, I'm not going to get my hopes up, because this could all blow up in my face."

"I would tell you to keep your fingers crossed, but I have the feeling you and Jack have already shared that little exchange," said Danielle. "Come on, we'll get coffee or something. You look like you could use it."  
Anna's cell phone went off, and she reached for it as they walked. "That sounds really good right about now," she said, "Just a sec. Hello?"  
"Anna?" Kelly's voice came over the line, and Anna stopped in her tracks as she replied.

"Kelly? Is that you? Where are you?" she asked. "Are you all right?"

Danielle looked over at her with raised eyebrows; Anna moved the phone away from her ear and put it on speakerphone as they left the courthouse.

"I'm fine," said Kelly, "I just…needed someone to talk to, and I couldn't think of anything else."  
"You sound upset," said Danielle, unable to stop herself, "What's wrong?"  
"I'm on speakerphone, aren't I?" Kelly asked mildly, and then, "The police…have a lead. As to who took Becky, and…" She trailed off and sighed. "How's the trial going?"  
"Closing arguments tomorrow morning," said Anna, "Then it's all up to a jury. Why?"  
"Because I need you to talk to the prosecution," said Kelly, and looked nervously towards Ed and Nina. Both of them nodded, and she went on. "And I need you to talk to Jack."

"Kelly," said Danielle, slowly, "What's this about? Has something come up?"  
Kelly looked back towards the detectives, and they nodded again, so she spoke. "As a matter of fact," she said. "Where are you two right now? I don't…want anyone else to hear this."

"In my car," said Anna, and they were, because they'd just gotten in. "Windows are up, doors are locked and everything. No one but me and Danielle. What's going on?"  
"Like I said," said Kelly, "The police think…well, they know that they've got a lead on where Becky is, and who's really behind the murders. It's a long story. But I'm going to…need your help if they're going to be able to do anything."  
"All right," said Anna, "I'm game. What's your plan?"

* * *

"You do realize that you're going to have to confess to everything. In open court, on the record, and there's no going back," said Connie, once the conversation was over, and Holloway had left the room with Anna. Jack nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm aware of that. And I'm aware of the fact that I'll be disbarred, but I need to ask you something."

"Shoot," said Connie, and then upon realizing how that had sounded, "Actually…ignore that. Just ask."

Jack shook his head, a soft laugh escaping him as he did. "I know what you meant," he said, and then, "Do you really believe I could have really done this?"  
She shook her head at once. "No," she said. "No way in hell. I know we're supposed to stay subjective on our side of the aisle, but…this time…"

"I suppose you could say that we've made exceptions before, and we'll continue to make them because some cases get to us more than others do," said Jack. "It was good working with you while I had the chance."

Connie gave him a sideways look. "You're really all right with this?" she asked. "With throwing it all away for something you haven't even done?"  
"I have my reasons," said Jack, vaguely. "I've dragged everyone through enough as it is, and I'm done. I can't do it anymore."

"This isn't you," said Connie. "You were so damn adamant about not taking the deal before; why are you taking it now?"  
"Because if a jury had convicted me, I could end up with a needle in my arm. I could end up never being able to see the real light of day again. Or I could've ended up with the sentence I'm going to get now. I think I'll be able to live with myself."

"We'll see how long that lasts when they send you upstate, to Ossining, or Dannemora or any one of those other prisons. You sent heaven only knows how many people up there. Any one of them could be looking for a chance to get revenge."

And that, Jack thought, without saying anything, was exactly the point. He still couldn't believe that Kelly had known all along, that two weeks had passed since their daughter had been kidnapped, and only now was she breaking her silence. But at least she had. And at least they were getting somewhere now. He'd never thought playing the role was for him, but apparently, it was working. Neither of the other, younger prosecutors had seen through it yet.

"I have the feeling that things will turn out better than that," he said, and as Connie gave him a startled look, he went on. "Just trust me, for now. I know it's a strange thing to ask you at the moment, but…just trust me."

* * *

They took the uniforms' places on the stakeout. They hadn't been contacted, but now that they had Kelly on their side, they had the feeling that they'd be able to trap Galinet in her own web.

"You're sure you have the right number to contact her with?" Nina asked, glancing towards the back seat, where Kelly sat, with sunglasses and a baseball cap on. She didn't look at all like herself, at first glance. It was doubtful that Galinet would be able to tell.

"I'm sure," she said, unable to keep a note of fear out of her voice, "She's only ever called my cell phone."  
"All right, then," said Ed, "When we give you the signal, you call her, and tell her to meet you here. We'll leave you here in the car; you'll move to the driver's seat."

"She's likely to be armed," Kelly said, hesitantly, "She told me the last time we spoke that if we had to meet again, she wasn't going to let herself be caught off guard."

"We'll be able to take her before she ever gets to you," said Nina. "Once we have her, she's our problem."

"And Danielle will come along to play attorney," said Kelly, "At least, for now. She'll hand it off before she actually gets to trial."

Both detectives exchanged glances and then looked back at her. "You sure you're all right with this?" Ed asked. Kelly sighed, and ran a tired hand through her hair.

"I should've been all right with this from the beginning," she said, quietly. "Let's just get it over with."

The detectives exchanged glances again, and then nodded, slowly. "All right," said Nina. "We'll leave you here. When you see the hand signal, call, all right?"  
Kelly nodded. The detectives got out of the car. She moved to the driver's seat, and waited.

About ten minutes later, when they and the others they'd brought along were in position, she saw the signal, and she called.


	24. Chapter 24

* * *

The next few hours were a blur. Later, Kelly would be able to say that she remembered none of it, and honestly, she didn't, except for waiting, and the police appearing out of nowhere, and Tara being taken away, shouting at the top of her voice that she'd regret what she had done. Anna and Danielle had come, as soon as it was over, and other than that, the last thing Kelly remembered was dissolving into tears.

Now she sat, listless, in front of a mug of coffee, in the middle of a crowded coffee shop, because she hadn't wanted to go home. Danielle was still with her. Anna had gone off to 'somewhere' or so she had said, but it was obvious where she'd gone off to, even though she hadn't given a definite location. It was quiet near the back, despite the amount of people there. They still hadn't heard from the police about anything.

"She'll give it up," said Danielle, her voice quietly breaking into Kelly's thoughts. "She doesn't have a choice anymore, if she wants to avoid the death penalty."  
Four murders, and a kidnapping, all premeditated, and heaven only knew what else. Erin Fallon was serving as Tara's defense counsel now. She had no idea what was in store for her. Kelly offered up a bitter smile at this, and shook her head.

"I wish she'd been convicted," she said. "And I know that it's an awful thing to wish on someone, but under the circumstances…"

"Erin won't be able to get her out of this one," said Danielle, shaking her head. "I doubt she'll want to, either."  
"Erin has no idea what she's getting into. If Tara's acquitted this time, it'll only get worse when she decides to reappear."

Silence fell between the two women, and was broken only by the sounds of the place around them. Kelly stirred her drink idly, but still hadn't taken a sip of it.

"Maybe he's right," she said, staring down at the table, "Maybe this really is all my fault. If she'd been convicted the first time…"

"This is probably going to come out wrong," said Danielle, "But you win some, and you lose some, and right now, I would say that for the moment, we've all won. Tara's in custody, sooner or later, she'll have to give up Rebecca, and when she does, it's over for her."

"What makes you so sure?" Kelly asked, skeptically, "The system's known for failure every now and then, Danielle, and to think that this could all happen again…"

"Don't think that it will happen again," Danielle told her. "Just think that it won't. Things like this…they're rare, and we both know it. People don't always go to these extremes just to get revenge."

"You should've seen her face," said Kelly, quietly. "When she realized I'd given her up to the police…she was furious."

"And she can't hurt you," said Danielle. "Don't think about it that way. Anything that happens now can only be good."  
But Kelly wasn't too sure. They still had no idea what had been done to Rebecca within the past two weeks, and probably wouldn't know for a long while. The thought made her eyes fill with tears.

"I can't do this," she said. "I can't just sit here and know nothing about what happened, Danielle, and I can't just pretend that it doesn't bother me…"

Danielle took her hand, immediately. "No one expects you to," she said. "Believe me, Kelly, no one involved in this expects you to pretend that it doesn't bother you. And when the police get something, they'll contact us like they promised they would."

The thought brought little comfort. Kelly continued to stir her drink, idly, showing no desire to take a sip from it. "What happens next?" she asked, her voice almost inaudible. "What happens now that this is all over?"

Danielle looked at her for a long moment, and shook her head, squeezing her hand gently.

"I don't know, Kelly," she said, just as quietly. "I really don't."

* * *

"What do you mean, the police have arrested someone else in connection with these murders?" Holloway demanded, furiously. "Why weren't we informed of this as soon as the arrest was made?"

"Because certain things needed to be taken care of before the prosecution could be notified," Anna said, tartly, "All you need to know is that an arrest has been made, and the police have found the real person behind these murders."

"And I suppose you expect me to believe that," Holloway shot back. "Do I look like I was born yesterday?"  
"As a matter of fact," Anna snapped, her patience gone. "You do. I'm warning you, Mr. Holloway, if you try to keep my client in prison any longer than he already has been, and if you proceed with a trial, I'll slam you with a lawsuit so fast you won't know what hit you!"  
"It's the middle of the night! What the hell do you expect me to do? He's going to have to stay here until morning, Ms. Flynn, and you're damn well aware of it!"  
"I know that! What I'm telling you is that if you try to proceed with this trial, you will regret it. If this isn't in front of Judge Ross first thing tomorrow morning, you'll regret it. Do you understand me, or do I need to speak in simpler terms?"

At this, Connie bit back the desire to laugh. Glancing briefly at Holloway, she took the opportunity to speak before he could say anything else.

"It'll be in front of Judge Ross in the morning," she said. "Believe me, neither of us would dream of dragging this on any longer than need be, Ms. Flynn. I'm sure you'll permit us until court reconvenes at nine o'clock?"  
"Since you've asked me nicely," Anna said, sarcastically. "I suppose I can let it slide, but so help me, Holloway, if you try to cross me on this, you will rue the day you took this case."

Holloway rolled his eyes at her and left the conference room. Connie, on the other hand, remained behind, and waited until the door slammed behind him before speaking.

"They've really found someone else?" she asked, anxiously. "This isn't just a ploy to get out of the deal you made?"  
"Do I look like someone who'd try to cross you?" Anna asked, now sounding more tired than annoyed. "I promise you, Ms. Rubirosa, this isn't a ploy to get out of anything. They've really found someone."  
"How?" The relief in Connie's voice was evident. "I'm not supposed to know this, but rumor had it that the jury was going to convict if he hadn't made that deal…it was all set for tomorrow morning."

"I know," said Anna. "That's part of why we couldn't let the prosecution know what was going on from the beginning."

"What exactly is going on here?" Connie asked. "If you're at liberty to tell me, that is…?"  
"I am," said Anna. "The police tied an old case of Jack's to all of this. There had only been one threat in all four cases in which someone involved."

"And the one person who threatened him, he was the one behind it?"  
"She was. She's also the one behind the kidnapping. We're hoping that she'll tell us where Rebecca McCoy is before the night is over."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then we're screwed, but either way, we've got her."

"The police…they haven't called over here yet…is there another ADA handling the case?"

"Not as far as I know, but then, I haven't heard anything. I'm headed over to the 27th Precinct now, if you'd like to come along with me."  
"Let me grab my coat."

* * *

"Is my client actually under arrest, Detectives, or is this just your idea of a practical joke?"

The last thing Erin Fallon had really expected was to be pulled into this mess, especially this late at night, but she had been, and now, she didn't have a choice but to work with what she had. Both detectives glared at her.

"Your client is actually under arrest, for murder. And for kidnapping. The more she talks, the more she helps herself avoid a needle."

"You have no grounds for the death penalty, Detectives, and I suggest you watch your step. What evidence do you have supporting the fact that my client is behind all of this?" Erin shot back. "Or is this a ploy by the District Attorney's office to get one of their own out of trouble?"

Ed gave her an incredulous look. "Do you really think that's what's going on here?" he demanded. "District Attorney's office ain't got nothing to do with this. We arrested your client because of information we were given from a confidential informant."  
Tara snorted. "Confidential, my foot," she snapped. "Kelly Monahan gave me up, and you know it."

Erin looked at both detectives with raised eyebrows. "The last I looked, Kelly Monahan was counsel on record for Ms. Galinet," she said. "What happened?"  
"Ms. Galinet went and kidnapped Ms. Monahan's daughter, that's what happened," Nina retorted, unable to keep the anger out of her voice. "Besides that, Ms. Fallon, your client disappeared for six years after her original acquittal. There was no grounds for Ms. Monahan to believe that she was still acting as counsel to Ms. Galinet."

"Hardly," Erin scoffed. "Anything Ms. Monahan told you is subject to being looked at as attorney/client privilege as I'm sure you're both aware of."

"Not if Ms. Monahan wasn't acting as counsel at the moment when she was contacted by Ms. Galinet, who happens to be your client now," Ed pointed out. "Besides that, it ain't attorney/client privilege if there's a crime going on."  
"Ms. Monahan had no knowledge that any crime was going on," Erin started, but Nina cut her off.

"How do you think we nailed your client, Ms. Fallon? Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that Ms. Monahan knew nothing if she's the one who helped us?"  
"She knew how to get a hold of my client, and that was it. Everything else is pure suspicion."

"Yes, the threats, Kelly Monahan's phone records, the text messages warning her not to speak to the police, all suspicion," said Ed, looking disgusted. "The only way your client's gonna come out of this without a needle in her arm is if she tells us everything."

"I will tell you nothing that I don't know, and I don't know anything," said Tara, flatly. "Honestly, I'm quite disturbed that the police could focus in on me so quickly."  
"The fact remains, Ms. Galinet," said Nina, barely managing to control her temper, "That in all four cases in which someone involved was murdered, you were the only one that had the nerve to threaten the prosecution. And now this is happening. Tell me, what are the odds of that?"  
"There's no need for sarcasm, Detective," Erin snapped. "Since my client has been charged with these crimes, I'll assume that she'll be arraigned in a timely manner?"  
"As soon as we can get her on the docket," said Ed. "After that, there's nothing we can do to help her. You're on your own in front of the District Attorney's office."

Tara smirked. "The DA's office doesn't scare me," she said bluntly, "They can't prove a thing."  
Outside the interrogation room, in the observation room, Connie shook her head, disgusted.

"Forgive my choice of words here, but that woman is truly a bitch," she said. "The detectives are right. As soon as I can manage it, I'll have her on the docket and arraigned."

"Please tell me that Branch isn't going to let Holloway pursue this one, too," said Anita, who had been watching the interrogation as well, and Connie shook her head.

"I doubt he will," she said. "He'll probably appoint one of the other EADA's to take this one on. I don't see why he didn't this time, but apparently, some lessons need to be learned the hard way."

* * *

The courts were busy a few hours later. In one, Tara Galinet was being arraigned. In the other, defense and prosecution were facing each other again, but this time, they were on the same side. Branch had sent Holloway to take care of the arraignment, leaving Connie to handle what was left of the trial.

"…and in light of these circumstances, your honor, the people see fit to clear Mr. McCoy of all charges and release him from the agreement he made with our office." It was a fight to keep the relief out of her voice. Most of the hard part was over. Jamie eyed her for a long moment before turning towards Anna.

"Does the defense have anything to say?" she asked. Anna rose to her feet.

"Only that we agree with the people's decision, your honor," she said. There was silence for another long moment, and then, Jamie spoke again.

"I hereby rule that the people's motion to dismiss all charges is granted," she said, not bothering to hide the relieved note in her own voice, even though she should have. "Mr. McCoy, you are free to go."

Words he'd been waiting for the past few months to hear, and now that they'd been spoken, he wondered why it had seemed so important to him in the first place. From all that Anna had told him, Tara still had not spoken. They had no idea where Rebecca was.

The courtroom started to empty, slowly. Anna sat with him, and waited for him to say something. After a moment, he did.

"I'm not sure what to tell you," he said. "It doesn't seem worth it now that we have her, and we still don't know where Becky is."

We'll find her," said Anna, "You know we will. The citywide search is still on; the police aren't just going to let this drop now that you've been cleared."

"Homicide is still handling it, though," Jack pointed out. "That doesn't bode well. Even if she…even if she is still alive, by the time they do find her…"

"Stop," said Anna, quietly, but firmly. "We are not going there. I don't want to hear that from you, all right? This part might be over, but we've still got a long way to go."  
He offered up a faint, rueful smile and rose to his feet. "I know we do," he said, taking her hand and helping her to her feet. "That's the problem."

They left the courthouse together, in silence. The sun was just starting to come out through the clouds, where earlier on, when they'd first arrived, it had looked like rain. Anna gave Jack a sideways look, but he said nothing for a long moment, and when he did, she could barely hear him.

"I never thought I'd ever have to wonder what it was like to be a free man," he remarked. She shook her head, and slid her arm through his as they walked, tentatively, but he didn't push her away.

"You don't have to wonder anymore."


End file.
